Chronicles of Absolution: Dancing with the Devil
by Kirabaros
Summary: 4.21. They have War's and they nicked Famine's. Now all they need is Pestilence and Death. The four horseman's rings, the key to the Cage. Easier said than done as Sam, Dean and Angela are forced to work with the devil they know to get what they need to avert the Apocalypse. To top it off Angie faces forward as the past catches up.
1. Chapter 1

**Chronicles of Absolution: Dancing with the Devil**

 **Chapter 1**

 _Then_

… _Not sure. Town's full of mild mannered people until one suddenly goes postal. Attacks have been random. The latest was an old lady, the owner of the local market. Police aren't releasing too many details…_

… _"Pain in my ass but she has her moments," he replied letting the tone of affection seep through._

 _Isis smiled in return. "She is special on many levels. To me it is like that of a mother and daughter. Her abilities while special are nothing compared to her nature."_

… "You are one of us. Not heaven made but earth bound."

… "The Malachi shall come bearing the blade that shall bring Absolution to the world."

… "The Malachi will be born of the light and the darkness."

… "The Malachi bears compassion for all including enemies."

… "The Malachi shall rise from the dead bearing the power of compassion and empathy; the powers that run deep within the blood."

… "You are the Malachi of Absolution."

… Sam realized what he had done. He had started the Apocalypse. The last thing he saw apart from the approaching light was Angela pushing him and Dean away telling them to go. He blinked and he thought he saw her hands glow as she said, "Get out!" Then the room was full of light.

… "You protect your family but not at the expense of who you are." She stopped Angela from speaking and continued, "I know you have knowledge up there and memories that are bloody and things you have to deal with but there is a fine line that you are at. You have to make the choice on whether or not it fight this as who you are or go down the road that you fear the most."

… He had a dream again much like the ones that he used to have before he met Angela. It was the one where she ended up dying alone. There was no doubt that part told him that if she were to be alone, she would die and it further cemented his belief that she was to be with him and his brother for a reason. The one part that had him bothered was who it was that did the killing…

… "You're right," Crowley admitted still smiling. He had the report from Cary and it did her no justice. He could tell she changed but she was still the beautiful creature he first met. "I have been keeping tabs on things. The beauty that was dead but now alive and apparently in full force. You know it's been a long time since I've seen Cary that scared."

"What can I say? I've always been good at scaring people." Angela looked at the demon as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Enough that I can't conduct business without hearing the name Absolution and how she's screwed up things," Crowley countered, "Quotas are down."

… "To him, we're just servants. Cannon fodder." Crowley heaved a slight sigh like he was being wronged. Actually he was in some way considering he figured on what the big bad boss wanted. "If Lucifer manages to exterminate humankind… we're next." He leaned on his desk and studied the Winchesters. He didn't need to convince her since she knew the score. "So help me huh? Let's all go back to simpler, better times."

… Releasing her sleeve, he reached up with his right hand and with his two first fingers he pressed the tips gently to the left side of her neck. He tried not to notice her wide eyed expression of surprise but he couldn't help but look her in the eye as he slowly and almost seductively brought his fingers down the side of her neck down to the collar bone. He finished by leaning forward and planted a kiss in the same spot she did, letting his breath linger slightly before pulling back.

Angela didn't move but looked at Sam in the eyes as he looked back at her. She didn't move when he slowly reached out and took her hand and held it in his. Sam kept his gaze on hers as he moved his fingers over her hand and held it. Slowly a full, shy smile erupted on her face and she squeezed his hand in response. It was a start…

… "Not arguing with that."

"Good."

What happened next would have had Dean grin and make his usual lewd comments. And that would have been if he happened to witness the entire thing. As it were he wasn't there and Sam gave into the impulse and pressed his lips against hers in a hard kiss, drawing it out. Angela, for her part, welcomed it and let him press her against the tree as he kept kissing her…

… Breaking the kiss, he leaned forward to where he had kissed her collarbone and took a whiff, his lips hovering over the skin. "You smell nice."

Angela felt Sam's breath on her neck and leaned her head against his. She managed to turn her head slightly and took in the scent she knew so well and drove the instinct to stalk him and not in a hunting kind of way. She breathed on his neck, "You smell pretty good yourself."

All that Angela heard was a low hum from Sam and she felt his breath on her skin before his lips made contact. She felt her skin flush with heat and she hummed in response but it came out more like a purr growl. She then felt Sam press a little harder and start to suckle on the skin…

… _It is if you are you know… And you and I both know that you are attracted to him. He is pretty cute._

… _Did you purr? You know it is a special kind of call._

… "I picked this because… there is something I wanted to tell you for a long time and that moment…"

… "Leave her alone, Lucifer," Gabriel warned. He held his blade up in warning. "She is here for a purpose so get over yourself. It's time to grow up."

Lucifer took in his brother's stance. He knew Gabriel always had a protective streak. He just liked to mock it by taking his good deed and tearing it down and stomping on it. It usually brought out a reaction that ended in the equivalent of a fist fight but this time…

… "So you're willing to die for a pile of cockroaches and a girl who has yet to fully realize who and what she is? Why?"

… "She is perfect no matter what she is and what she does and you wanna know why?" He paused to allow Lucifer to respond if he wanted to. When that didn't happen, he answered his question, "It's because she does what these flawed abortions do. She tries and does forgive."

… _You got to get the cage open, trick my bro back into it, and uh… oh yeah… avoid Michael and the God squad. But hey, details, right? And it shouldn't be a problem now that Cat got a little something extra for which I apologize for. I know Sam wants to strangle me if he could_ …

… _But the key to the cage, it's out there. And actually it's keys. Four keys. Well four rings. From the horsemen_ …

… "Well, we've got War's and we nicked Famine's. That's two rings down. Collect all four? All we need is just Pestilence and Death."

… She put her hand on the one that was stroking her cheek and closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. It felt… so good. Her question came out in a whisper, "And what is that?"

"That… that I love you."

 _Now_

The crowd was cheering as the two combatants circled each other with their hands up in fists. They eyed each other warily as they judged each other's intentions and movements. They ignored the cat calls and the hooting from the onlookers. It was a tense moment as they paused and almost didn't seem to move once they adapted a position. Suddenly one launched and attack swinging their fists in wide arcs.

Angela was waiting for the swing and blocked it. Using her opponent's momentum, she batted her opponent aside and sidestepped the charge. She looked down as her opponent fell to their knees. Her expression was without emotion on it but everything was being felt on the inside and running full speed ahead. "Enough," she said, "Please."

The downed person got to their feet and looked at Angela with a narrowed look and then charged again. "Grrahhh!"

Angela was ready for the charge. Instead of sidestepping, she took the charge and fell on her back. Using her legs, she got her knees into her opponent's abdomen and pushed to send them flying head over heels. She flipped forward to get to her feet and turned to look at her opponent lying in the sandy street. They weren't moving and the crowd was egging her to finish the guy.

Looking around, Angela sighed and turned to walk away. She was done with this. She ignored the booing and headed towards the place she had been heading towards. It was then she sensed something wasn't right. She paused a little and closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were flaring. Pivoting on her heel she swung her arm out in a sweeping motion.

Her opponent had gotten to their feet and had pulled a blade and they were charging. She hadn't seen it but her other senses were on alert. She reacted and sent the guy flying into one of the vendor stalls nearby. She narrowed her eyes as she watched the crowd gasp at her opponent as they grimaced from being rammed into a stall selling what looked like wooden wares. Her hand was still outstretched with her hand splayed.

The crowd started looking at Angela. She merely stared and then shifted to gaze at everyone before turning around and walking away. As she did, her eyes returned to normal and took a couple of breaths as she paused a moment. She started walking again but this time it was harder to ignore the whispers that were starting. She shifted her gaze downward and continued forward. She just wanted to leave.

High above on the wall overlooking the square, two people watched the whole thing go down. They watched as Angela tried talking down the attacker and how she avoided serious confrontation down to the last straw when she used her powers against her attacker and sent him flying. They watched as the crowd looked at her and how she turned and walked away.

"So it is as was reported."

Satet watched as her adopted daughter walked back towards the villa that was designated hers when she came to Karnak. It was what humans in the modern world called a guest house. Her expression was pensive and she longed to just appear down there and hug her. She resisted and replied, "And it doesn't matter."

"My lady…"

"It doesn't matter Kizet," Satet replied as she looked up at the man that was observing with her. She stared at him with a firm look. "She still is my daughter and I will not have her be the subject of guard potentials testing meters or whatever the hell it's being called."

"My lady, she is…" Kizet paused will trying to come up with a way of describing the situation without incurring the wrath of the Nile goddess. Finally he said, "My lady, the princess has been awakened. We all felt it." He paused as the goddess shifted to watch the subject in question walk. "She is…"

"Don't you call her a threat. You and I both know she is not," Satet turned with a finger raised in warning.

"I am not saying that," Kizet replied looking down while shaking his head. He took a breath and continued, "What I am saying is that now the field has shifted. What was locked away has now been released and we don't know what is going to happen."

Satet studied her aide and personal guard. She knew he was only thinking in terms of safety and for the people of Karnak. "No we don't but that doesn't give us the right to treat her like she is a leper. She is a princess of the Nile."

"Which is why I am suggesting that she be convinced to stay so at least we know what she can and can't do. If only so she doesn't accidently hurt a civilian or worse, the one she truly cares about." Kizet took a breath as he stood respectful to the lady. "And while I have faith that Kesset will be there… I just…"

"Then faith must be stronger," Satet replied in a gentle tone. She knew what her guard was getting at and she while he had everyone's interests at heart… that wasn't going to solve anything. "Shifa' was predicted to come into her own understanding. The how and when were never made clear."

"And you are planning to take it on faith?"

Satet smiled and replied, "Of course. I believe in her."

* * *

The light of the torches lit the streets below as the night guard was maneuvering into night patrols. There was some music playing and some dancers in the streets. It wasn't a festival but given the circumstances there really wasn't a need to discourage living it a little. Besides, it wasn't eat, drink and be merry but rather, eat, drink and pay respects. It was funerary.

Angela stared down at the dance for the dead taking place as she leaned against the balcony of the guest house that was hers. She stared through a heavy lidded gaze down below as she observed the rite to honor the dead. She leaned on her elbows and sighed before raising a hand to her forehead and rubbing it. Her other hand was cupped around a cup filled with the best alcohol that could be found in Karnak but it really wasn't rotgut or Jack Daniels. Yet it was enough to try and work things over the past few days or hours… time really passed differently in a sanctuary.

Leaning against the balcony, she thought about the past few days in Karnak time. After she woke up and apologized to Sam for nearly beaning him with a water glass, he handed her the DVD of Casa Erotica and told her to watch the bonus features. She eye browed him a moment but she didn't get insulted. She figured that Gabriel would do something like that.

Sam was content to leave her alone to watch but she asked him to stay. In fact, she had both brothers there with her when she popped in the DVD and clicked on the bonus features. She had wanted to laugh when she saw the still screens for the menu and she would have had fun at getting Dean scandalized about her lack of sensibility with regards to porn. But she remained sober as she clicked on the link. Gabriel had thought of everything. He explained a few things and apologized for what he had done.

 _I know by now that you would have figured out that I am dead. You would have felt it and then some and I'm sorry._

 _You're probably wondering what I'm talking about. Well… think back to when you just learned that trick I showed you. Cat, the long and short of it is that the burn was a result of that. I always said it was your gift and greatest weapon. My regret is that my death is leaving you alone to deal…_

Angela took a drink from her cup. "Yeah, Gabe. You left me permanently this time and I still have no idea what you did to me."

Sam and Dean didn't know either except for suspicions that it had something to do with her powers. And it didn't help that they mentioned what happened the moment her shoulder burned. What she did notice was that her powers seemed stronger and her senses were… She would never have been able to pull off what she did today before then. Well maybe but not with the same effect and she had never felt a rush like that before.

Taking another swig, she slammed the sup down on the ledge. Now was not the time to be worrying about this. They had to get the rings of Pestilence and Death and find a way to get Lucifer's ass back into the cage. This was like the topping of bad timing for things with her to be going haywire. And it didn't help that she felt like she was burning with fever half the time. "Just had to stick it to him didn't ya," she muttered as she took the last of the swill before turning and throwing the cup into the wall.

"I'd say anger management was in order."

"Blow it out your ass, Wosret."

Wosret looked at the woman that she called sister as she leaned against the banister of the balcony looking at her with a narrowed look. She hadn't seen that look since the woman detoxed from demon blood so long ago. "I know you're angry…"

"That's putting it mildly," Angela said as she pointed at Wosret. "And don't be so nice to me. I know you're just anxious to take it out of my ass because Gabriel decided for once to follow through and actually take a blade in my place." She choked on the last part and then turned to walk away. She headed to where she kept a stash of the swill and grabbed the bottle. "And a pity I can't get drunk."

Wosret was taken aback by the amount of self-loathing that was in Angela's tone. "I don't blame you for what Gabriel did as his choice. He made it because he…"

"He's a guardian. It's what they do," Angela replied as she waved the opened bottle around. She gave a wry chuckle. "Hell, it's what I do but I always seem to walk away and a trail of collateral damage is left behind. Oh yeah such a great concept."

Wosret swallowed at that assessment. "Shifa', this isn't you. You don't leave destruction…"

Angela snorted at that as she started pacing. There was little else to do at the moment. "Please. It's all I ever do. And you know why? Because I learned the truth and the truth is… I'm a monster. Born human and then puberty hit…" She made a slight sound before taking a swig.

Deciding enough was enough, Wosret moved and grabbed the bottle from Angela. She expected a struggle but didn't get one. Instead she got a shrug like it wasn't a big deal and Angela walking towards a cabinet and opening it to pull out a bottle of what looked like whiskey. It had Wosret raise a brow since modern alcohol was not exactly a big thing around here. Few who left the sanctuary brought it back. It was a status thing.

"Hmm… knew that he stocked a good cabinet." Angela popped the cork and stuck out a hand. The cup she had thrown flew to her hand and she started pouring a drink. She glanced at Wosret and then at her drink. "You know Gabe had good taste. He taught me a refined wine palate and it stuck. Certainly impressed a few bluebloods."

Wosret said nothing while Angela downed her glass and abandoned it in favor of the bottle. Angela walked back to the ledge and leaned over to watch the masses below. She held the bottle over the edge like she would a beer bottle and just watched while occasionally taking a drink. Wosret took the opportunity to come closer and lean on the railing next to her, quiet.

"He sent me away, Wosret."

Wosret shifted to look at Angela. She listened as Angela continued in an almost wry chuckle, "He sent me away and… You know I was ready to swing a fist or two but he wouldn't let me. Now he's gone, and I'm left with trying to hunt down two horsemen."

"He knew he was going to die eventually by taking on Lucifer. If he got lucky, he would have gotten out and if not…" Wosret paused as she watched her sister take a sip and stare out at the ground below.

Angela made a slight sound. She took another swig of whiskey. "I can't stay here. I know Kizet wants me to because no one knows what I can do but I know I scared a few people. Hell I scare myself because I feel a little charged and it won't go away no matter what I do and once or twice I thought I saw wings coming from me. Faint and shadowy like."

Wosret was well aware of the stories that had been circulating. She knew she had to tell her what Gabriel trusted her with so long ago. "It's because of your powers," she replied. Once she had Angela's attention, she continued, "Gabriel bound your powers, the ones fueled by your healer connection when you were a young girl. He knew that you were more than what you thought… since the beginning when he found you. He wanted to protect you because he knew that both sides would come after you."

"I know," Angela replied after being silent for a time. She shifted to look at Wosret and explained, "I know. Figured it out when he reminded me of when he did it. It was when he taught me how to find what matters the most to me. Most basic of exercises involving the healer." She sighed and looked up at the sky. "I'm just… angry. And I want to take it out on something, which is why I need to go back. I've been away from Sam and Dean long enough and they weren't happy in the first place when your escorts came and got me."

"I apologize and Mother and Father wanted you to be here since… he was your guardian." Wosret gave a slight cough and almost joked, "And that was a lame reason."

"Yeah but that's the thing with Sam and Dean," Angela replied with a slight smile. She didn't hold it against her godly family. She took a sip of the bottle. "They are pretty good at reading between the lines. Sam especially. Makes me wonder what I did to find someone like him."

"Maybe he wonders how he found someone like you."

Angela looked at Wosret, "What do you mean?"

"I mean how he found probably one of the greatest things in his life."

Angela paused for a moment and looked away. She wasn't sure what to think about that. The thought made her blush since Sam did admit his feelings for her and she t him. She hummed for a moment and said, "You know Sam said he loved me. I said the same thing back."

"Then I am sorry," Wosret countered. "They both should have been here."

Angela shook it off, "It's no worries. They understand and… They are working on our next move. Which is why I need to leave. I can't stay here Wosret."

Wosret nodded at that. She knew that Angela wasn't one to hide in a hole. If she could do something, she would do it. She would be out there to help people. "I know and so do Mother and Father but… the rite is tomorrow. At least stay for that."

"Wosret…"

"You are to sing the farewell to Gabriel."

Angela straightened up and stared at Wosret. She knew that she couldn't refuse especially if she had been given the honor of the funerary farewell. She had sung it for Ellen and Jo and now she was singing it for an archangel. But she had to get back on the road and help the Winchesters look for Pestilence. She gave a nod. She could stay one more day.

* * *

 **A/N:** And here we are with a new episode of Chronicles. Here we have Angie working through Gabriel's death while trying to go after Pestilence. Stay tuned for more Dancing with the Devil...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Now I didn't expect to see ya now."

"Likewise." Dean took a sip of his beer as he sat hunched over the bar.

"Well no need to get all huffy. I mean it's not like you were here for a performance."

"Liam," Sam entered trying to be civil to the werewolf that was sitting at the bar with them.

Liam studied the Winchesters as they shared that length of the bar with him. He took a swig of the scotch he had ordered. He gave a lopsided grin at Sam and said, "Now don't be grumpy Goradh. Just making conversation. I think we can all agree that were are here for the same thing."

In their pursuit on Pestilence's trail, Sam and Dean had come into a town and ended up in a bar where they found Liam on stage and singing. They hadn't expected to see the werewolf since he was pretty much glued to the Academy. At least that was what they thought. So it was a bit of a surprise and a time of controlling emotions since Sam wasn't inclined to be friendly.

Liam hadn't expected to end up in this town but he was on a case and his cover just happened to coincide with his musical talents. What was more surprising was the fact that the Winchesters had arrived and without the company of a certain lady friend that he loved teasing Sam about. Knowing that they were there for a job since anything else sounded ridiculous, he made his way towards them and offered a drink. Taking a sip of his beer, Liam said, "I'm guessing now that you are after Pestilence and I will tell ya he passed right through here."

"How do you know that?" Dean shifted to look at the werewolf.

Liam took another sip of beer and spoke like it was nothing more than a casual conversation, "Been following the cases of sickness and I read the signs. Originally I was tracking the omens to look for Lucifer himself and give you blokes a heads up."

"Why?"

Liam shifted to look at Sam who was sitting on his other side. "Well now, Goradh. Unlike most common folk, I read and I have been watching the omens. I know that you two are looking to stop this." He gave a slight grin, "I read the reports and I know a certain professor that keeps in touch."

"So what have you got?"

Dean was trying to stave off an argument or potential fist fight. He knew that Sam wasn't in a good mood and he wasn't either. They were going on a day or so without Angela and they were both worried as hell. It wasn't that they didn't think she could take care of herself. It was the other thing, what Gabriel did to her and so far it only showed up with her throwing glasses at him and Sam when startled or actually finishing sentences from everyone to the point where it predicted their next move.

Liam wasn't insensitive and had picked up on things right away. Plus the scent rolling off Sam in waves was a frontal beach assault that overwhelmed him at times but he was glad that it happened. He smiled slowly and pulled another bottle off the counter and downed a gulp. "Just the name of the next town Pestilence might hit next."

Putting his beer down, he reached into his inside jacket pocket. Pulling out a slip of paper, he put it on the counter and slid it towards Dean. "Now this is where the trail looks like it's heading. Now as to the deal, looks like something big is going down and soon. Can't tell ya what but things are crazy enough with the omens. Also I'd thought I'd might tell ya that some of the mystics are trembling about the veil or something."

Dean glanced over at Sam and Sam wisely said nothing but took a swig of his beer. So it really wasn't something they could keep on the lowdown. As it was, they didn't know the origin of that disturbance and Dean would like to keep it that way. It wasn't that he didn't trust Liam. Hell, he trusted the guys at the Academy more than the Centurion but he just wasn't ready to let that be known and Sam felt the same way.

Liam knew what the Winchesters were so silent about and he wasn't insulted. Rather he was pleased that they were going to lengths to protect the one they held dear and he was more cheering for Sam. Taking it in good humor, he grinned, "No need to be too secretive but I understand. Besides, I know it was her and probably not her fault. Mum's the word with me."

"Thanks," Sam replied after he calmed down. He looked up from his bottle and at the werewolf. "We'll look into it."

Liam nodded at Sam and grabbed his beer, "Well ya better get to it. I hear that it is a nasty outbreak of flu. Had that once and it's no picnic. Course I was all fur and teeth at the time." He grinned as he patted Sam on the shoulder before leaning over to whisper, "And yer doing fine looking after her. Glad you stepped up."

Sam made a slight face at that and managed to mutter, "Only because I didn't want you getting any funny ideas."

"Like I could with you around." Liam chuckled, enjoying having the last word. "Oh before I forget," he pulled out a card and put it in front of Sam, "I do have a tour coming up and here's a pass to get in hang around. Beer will be on me of course. Good luck."

Dean couldn't help but smirk as Liam walked away to head backstage. He liked the werewolf and it was nice to know something that could kill you but didn't want to kill you. Plus he got a kick out of the fact that the werewolf's interests in Angela only extended the shared bond of being healers; it was admiration and not what Sam perceived it to be. He patted Liam on the shoulder, "Thanks man. We'll probably take you up on that."

"Good for any time."

Dean waited until Liam was gone before giving a brotherly nudge to Sam and asking, "Hey, you alright?"

"I'm good." And it was the honest truth for Sam. He sat back and asked, "So, we gonna check it out?"

"Might as well. It's not like Liam has a reason to lie." Dean got up from his seat and pocketed the card. There was no way he was going to miss a chance of a free beer or two. "We're on the same side." He took one last swig of his beer. "Kind of nice to have."

Sam made a polite smile as he got up and made to leave. "Yeah."

Dean sighed a little as they walked out of the place. He might as well address the elephant in the room. He twisted his lip slightly when he recalled seeing an actual elephant in the room. "You okay Sam?"

"Yeah, just worried," Sam admitted. He looked at his brother. "But Angie's okay. She's in a place where she can be looked after." He gave a slight shrug before clearing his throat. "Just feels weird when she's not here and not knowing what is being asked of her."

"You talk to her?"

"No. She said it was for a couple of days. Karnak time." Sam frowned as he said that like he was still trying to wrap his head around it.

"So she could be back tomorrow or even tonight," Dean stated more than asked as he fished the keys to Impala out of his pocket.

"Yeah, so let's check this lead out." Sam got into the car.

Dean didn't say anything but got in too. There really wasn't much to say and there was no use worrying about it. Though in Sam's case it was kind of expected. He nosed the Impala in the direction that the town Liam gave them the lead was in and took off. They had a lot of ground to cover.

They made it to find that it was exactly like what Liam described. There was an influx of patients that were suffering from flu and not just any flu but swine flu. Posing as agents for the CDC, they inquired if there was anything unusual about the symptoms that would be deemed up their alley. And they found that it was nothing but swine flu but the influx of cases was a day and a half incubation. Both knew that there was something going on if that was occurring but they really didn't have anything solid to go on.

"Well that was helpful," Dean muttered once they were back on the road.

"Liam probably came to the same conclusions. Suspicious in incubation and all that. He does have healer in him," Sam offered, probably the only nice thing he ever said about the werewolf.

"Yeah right," Dean muttered. "Check in with Bobby."

Sam made a slight eye roll as he dialed the number for Bobby. It wasn't exactly a stellar conversation since it went right down to business. He held the phone and put it on speaker so Dean could hear as well.

 _Let me guess: another steaming-hot pile of swine flu._

"Yep."

"Doesn't make any sense, Bobby. Pestilence touched down here. I'm sure of it and Liam seemed pretty sure too," Sam said more to soften the snark from Dean.

"Okay then why is dealing up swine flu when he's got the Croatoan virus? I don't get it," Dean added and paused. He was waiting for Angela to come in saying something that had more to do with the art of war than down to earth or something like that but it made sense. He cleared his throat when he remembered that she wasn't there to do that and he could tell that Sam and Bobby had been expecting that too.

 _Doesn't matter what the son of a bitch is doing. What matters is that it's the fourth town he's hit that we know of and we're still eating his dust. Did you get anything? We got even a snowball at probable next target?_

Sam didn't want to admit to anything but, "Uh, no pattern we can see and Liam gave what he could."

 _Okay. Well that's something though I thought a healer would be able to see the patterns. Hold on a moment._

Sam glanced at Dean as they heard noise rustling over the phone. It did seem strange that Liam couldn't pick up more but then again the werewolf always said the family had the talent but it didn't mean that they were the strongest. Still it was better than nothing.

 _Well as far as I can tell, he's still heading east. So head east, I guess._

"Bobby, we're in West Nevada. East is practically all there is," Dean pointed out.

 _Yeah, well you better get to driving. Any word on Angie?_

The Winchesters looked at each other before Sam replied, "No. She's still… wherever Karnak is."

 _Could use her insight._

"I know." Sam sighed as he hung up the phone. There was nothing else to say about that and it was no secret that they all were worried. He slipped the phone into his pocket and prepared for a silent drive.

It was maybe a couple of minutes before a voice said, "Say, I've got an idea."

Dean braked hard and turned the wheel once he realized what was going on while Sam reached for the knife. Sam lunged towards the backseat and drove the knife towards the demon and ended up killing the backseat as Dean came to a complete stop. Sam gritted his teeth as Dean asked, "Did you get him?"

"He's gone," Sam huffed and turned with a start when a knocking sound grabbed his attention. He turned to find the demon peering at him and Dean from the outside looking a little too smug. Sam wanted to gut him.

"Fancy a fag and a chat?"

Both Winchesters got out of the car pissed as hell. Crowley knew that and held up his hands in a gesture to calm them down since popping in like that seemed to set them off. "You're upset. We should discuss it." He took a few steps backwards as Sam advanced towards him. "Not here, but…"

"You wanna talk? After what you did to us?" Sam felt ready to let it out. He was angry and full of other emotions that threatened to boil over. He stalked the demon around the hood of the car to box him in with Dean.

"After what I did to you? I gave you the Colt," Crowley sputtered clearly wondering what the hell he did to make the moose so angry. It did occur to him that he didn't see the one person who normally was the one to keep everyone from losing their tempers.

"Yeah and you knew it wouldn't work against the devil," Sam shouted. His hand gripped the knife tightly.

"I never."

"You set us up," Sam countered, not pleased with the answer. "We lost people on that suicide run. Good people."

Crowley brushed it off since it was nonconsequential, "Who you take on the ride is your own business." Looking at the brothers he held his hands up. "Look, everything is still the same. We're all still in this together." He gave a smile to show some sincerity.

"Sure we are." Sam took a swipe at the demon and ended up missing. He wheeled around to find Crowley behind him and was going to take another swing.

"Call your dog off please," Crowley said a little annoyed. "I would have said to get my sweetheart to do it but she doesn't seem to be in the picture." He looked at them suspiciously. "You didn't do anything to her did you?"

Sam was ready to charge again but was held back by Dean. Dean knew that Sam was pissed and worried and reacted badly if anyone implied he did something to hurt Angela when he knew he didn't. It wasn't going to end good and if Sam got hurt… Dean wasn't ready to deal with that especially if she found out. He held up his finger and said, "Give me one good reason."

"I can give you Pestilence," Crowley replied once he was sure that Sam wasn't going to try again with the knife. He knew he had their attention. "I know how to get him."

* * *

 _You look pretty as a picture Cat. Now why the guys don't see that is beyond me._

Angela snorted at the memory as she stared at her reflection in the bronze mirror. She still wasn't sure about all this but she figured she owed it as a familial obligation and the idea did seem to make her feel a little better. And she could admit that she liked the fact that people paid attention to her preferences when it came to clothes.

She took in the pants that hugged her curves in an attractive way up to the top that was pretty much a hugging long sleeved shirt that led to a hem that came to a point on the top of her hand. Covering that was a sleeveless light coat that flared out like her duster and was held in place by the buckle at her waist. It certainly reminded her of when she had to play nice for the Tournament of Souls long ago. And the nice thing was that it allowed her to carry her weapons of choice, the only two she had on her when she left to come here: her chakram and Absolution.

The material was light and airy, made for desert heat and allowed for maneuverability. Her hair was unadorned and just hung in wavy curls down her back with some locks coming over her shoulder. She snorted since the first thought was that she looked like something out of one of Gil's graphic novels and no doubt he would be fangirling himself to see her in this getup.

She would have preferred her usual jacket, jeans and shirt but she wasn't one to disappoint and she really didn't want to disgrace the people. She looked down at the knee high boots that were actually women's boots with a small heel. She made a face but they were pretty comfortable. Call it her interesting taste in wardrobe.

Satisfied that she held up to the clothing side of things, she inspected her person and looked at the watch that Dean had given to her on her birthday and smiled. She wiped the lens of the face to make sure it was clean before reaching up and touching the star pendant hanging around her neck. It made her wish that she was back home with the boys.

"I apologize for the appearance. You know how artistic the tailors can be."

Angela turned to see Satet standing in the doorway. She straightened up and bowed her head respectfully. "I am a little uncomfortable in that I feel like a fashion model, milady. But they feel comfortable." She cleared her throat and endeavored to not look the lady in the eye. She then added, "Enough to fight in."

Satet smiled at her adopted daughter and approached her. She hooked her finger under Angela's chin and lifted it so she was looking at her in the eye and chuckled, "As well as they should be. I requested that as a must for you." She released Angela's chin.

Angela smiled at that. She did like the clothes. "Well… I guess I am ready." She reached up and fingered her pendant. "Just this right?"

Satet watched Angela as she fingered her pendant. She knew that she would rather be with the Winchesters right now and probably that was the best thing but given what had been sensed… She wanted to make sure she was all right and… "Yes. Then you can go."

That was a relief to Angela. She long suspected that they wanted to keep her there because of recent events. She couldn't deny that something happened and it was related to what Gabriel did to her. She didn't blame them since what she probably did was the supernatural equivalent to a nuclear device. "Thank you," she breathed.

"I know you belong with them and…" Satet sighed. She decided to tell the truth since lies got no one anywhere.

"This was just to make sure that nothing bad happened," Angela finished with a slight smile. At the look that Satet was giving her she continued, "Precautions and it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Especially since you sent two birdbrains to fetch me. By the way, they handled that poorly and luckily Sam and Dean are understanding."

Satet looked at her daughter, having always enjoyed the candor she gave when she spoke. It was a quality that she liked and reminded her of her own youth. She gave an apologetic smile, "I am sorry, Shifa'. I wasn't sure if being direct would have made a difference. I gave them too little credit."

Angela returned the smile with one of her own. She was not trying to rebuke the Nile goddess even though it came out that way. Part of it was because she had been in the company of people who thought they could justify everything no matter how hurtful it was to the person or persons the action was done towards. The other part… She was a believer in telling like it was when it was serious. She didn't like to be led around if it was something that involved her like her health or something along those lines. She replied a bit more softly, "No need for apologies, milady. Just straight up honesty would be appreciated."

Satet smiled, "Agreed."

Both women smiled and hummed a little chuckle before Satet held out her hand to lead Angela through the house and down to where the funerary farewell would be sung. Angela allowed the Nile goddess to lead her by the hand like she was a little child and she followed. She twitched her lip in a slight smile when Satet clasped her hand in hers and gave a motherly squeeze. The goddess held her hand all the way to the great hall in the main palace.

It was pretty much what she had done for Ellen and Jo and Angela suspected why the royal family requested that she do it. Truth being told, she didn't mind. It was always said that her finer talents lay in her voice and her ability to calm even the most wild of beasts with her singing. She thought the whole description to be too flowery bullshit but she did have some proof in the form of a poem that a friend wrote about her and was pretty insistent upon it being the most accurate description he had of her. And she remembered the compliments from when her mother used to host salons in an attempt to impress potential mother in laws.

So it was with the ease of practice that she took her place on the pavilion. It wasn't overly a private affair since there seemed to be various pantheons present as well. She could make out Ares standing there in respect but also looking bored; it was as if her were there as a social obligation. It didn't matter to Angela since she knew that the Grecian god of war had some feelings. Discovering them was the fun thing to do.

Looking at those that gathered, Angela's gaze lingered on Wosret who was standing there with another girl. It had Angela curious since she had never seen her before but there was something familiar about her. She was distracted by it when she was called to attention. She looked forward at the tribute. There was no funerary pyre or anything like that since they were going with Egyptian tradition. Looking at her audience, Angela took a breath and then began to vocalize the first few notes of the song she was to sing.

Like for Ellen and Jo, she sang the one that Setna had taught her. While it would have been sufficient and expected to do the commonly accepted version, she sensed it was right to use the one that she had been taught so long ago. She sang even though her heart wasn't completely into the whole thing. What she really wanted was to go home and get back to work and find Pestilence. She wanted to pretend that what happened didn't but it was hard to ignore and couldn't be.

She sang through the entire song unaware that the people there were watching her in a manner that could be described as awe. She just sang until she was finished and let the last note die as a vocalization. It was her own touch to convey that she was mourning and that was her way of showing it. She stood there as the last note died and she stared at everyone there and she was joined by Satet, who gave her a gentle squeeze on her shoulders.

Together the pair of them walked back in more to have a chat. Satet walked side by side with Angela and commented, "Interesting choice and one that I agree with Shifa'."

"Thought it was right."

"I thought so too. I didn't want to request it but rather let you go with your own feelings on this one."

Angela hummed at that and replied, "To be honest, I had my mourning for Gabriel before I came. We were never one for… this." She had a meaner way of talking about the funerary farewell but refrained from it since there were some aspects that she found to be nice.

"I know and I am grateful for that," Satet replied as she came to a halt. She turned to look at Angela and smiled gently. She lifted a hand to caress her cheek and continued, "And I am certain that your heart feels lighter." She smiled in a knowing fashion.

Angela couldn't deny it. As much as she disliked pomp and circumstance, she felt a little better. She gave a smile and nodded. "It does and I am ready to go back."

"No goodbyes?"

"Never goodbye, milady. Just… see you later." Angela looked away for a moment to stare down the hall. "I will see Wosret."

"Thank you."

Angela turned to look back at the goddess only to find that she was no longer in Karnak. Instead she was standing in a boarded up house; the kind of place that she would look for a fugly in. She blinked and stared ahead to find the one person she would like to stab in the heart.

"Hello sweetheart."

* * *

 **A/N:** Looks like Crowley has a means of getting Pestilence and there's no getting him without Angie. Stay tuned for next time on Dancing with the Devil...


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Crowley didn't know where Pestilence was per se but he did know the person that would get them the horseman. It was pretty much the best thing. And he was certain than his sweetheart would agree once she heard the plan. The problem was that she wasn't there in the car when he first caught up with the Winchesters and he was surprised even though his little tracking device enabled him to listen in onto most things.

It was annoying trying to give his plan with the moose, aka Sam Winchester, trying to kill him every two seconds. He figured that was because his sweetheart wasn't around to keep the moose in check. He wasn't blind; he saw how readily both Winchesters followed her lead and how she seemed to keep a tense situation from blowing up in their faces. Then again she always knew how to conduct business. It was why he taught her everything he knew about making and breaking deals.

Once he managed to convince Dean to listen to him after he said that he could get them Pestilence, he was somewhat in the clear. As long as Dean held his attack dog in check, then they could do this without it getting messy. Of course there were the real attack dogs to contend with. Having three hell hound puppies, one whom he was certain was not entirely hellish, looking at him like they were going to eat him alive and they would with one being the rare breed of a harridan. He still couldn't figure out how she managed to tame the king of those beasts.

Crowley was always in the business of making deals. He was king of the crossroads. His record was spotless in that department. Well now the devil knew that he wanted him dead and he had spent a two hellish months in hiding using every trick in the book to stay under the radar while watching the Hardy boys and Nancy Drew plot their next move. It was a little interesting and he couldn't resist rubbing it in that he heard a few things. It was especially entertaining to watch Sam's face when he implied about the things he had heard. Call it leverage if you like but he had the Winchester's attention.

As it turned out, he gave the tidbit that he knew the demon that knew where the other two horsemen were, the stable boy. Now Crowley knew that there were some demons out there that would have preferred to go straight for the throat. He had been in the business long enough to know that to topple the mighty, you start from the foundation. Get that and you get the king. It was something his sweetheart understood very well which was why he was certain he figured she would go along with this. It was an art form really and he had been impressed when he taught her his bag of tricks and then some. The trick was convincing the Winchesters that it was the best plan.

"Alright so where's this demon of yours?"

Crowley knew he had them when Dean asked the question. Despite the fact that Sam was looking at him like he wanted to skin him right then and there, Crowley knew the younger brother wouldn't do anything while Dean was considering their options. It was funny how hunters in general wouldn't dream of consulting with a dealing devil like himself and where did that get them? Nowhere really or dead. Here there were two blokes that understood there were some things you had to plunge for.

Looking at them he explained, "The place is called Niveus Pharmaceuticals."

"Makes sense."

Crowley looked at the pair and went on in a nonchalant manner, "Anyway that is where the little bastard is at. And probably with an army of demons."

It was amusing to watch and Crowley left them to discuss things as they prepared to go to the place. He also had a few things to look into and take care of in order to make this come out as a better deal for him. It was rather funny since they were going to do it anyway. Whether or not they would work with him was another thing. He smirked as he shamelessly eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Why are we even listening to him, Dean? This is totally insane."

"I don't disagree."

The final clack of a gun clip snapping into place was Crowley's cue and he walked in like it was another day in his paradise. Never mind the fact that the demon bastards burnt down his house and ate his tailor. Didn't anyone realize how hard it was to find a tailor that knew how to make you look imposing that people just threw themselves at you to make a deal? No one understood.

Clapping his hands together, Crowley took in the looks of exasperation and asked "One big happy family are we then? Fantastic."

"You ready to go?"

"Yes, yes I am," Crowley replied to Dean's question. This next part was going to have things rocky but… you had to take precautions. "Sam, keep the home fires burning."

"What are you talking about?" Dean looked at Crowley as if he didn't hear right.

"Sam's not coming," Crowley replied in a straightforward manner as he watched Sam turn to look at him.

"Why the hell not?" Sam demanded the question from the demon looking ready to go for the demon killing knife again.

"Because I don't like you," Crowley replied as he advanced towards the taller Winchester. He held his fingers out as he made his points. "I don't trust you, and oh yes, you keep trying to kill me." He gave a glare at Sam before adding, "At least she tries to kill me with finesse and almost got me though it was more intimidation."

"There is no damn way," Sam huffed as he glared at the demon. "This isn't gonna happen."

"I'm not asking you aren't I? Because you're not invited," Crowley replied with a mocking expression. He loved having one up on them and he liked making Sam squirm. He then looked at Dean and continued, "I'm asking you." He pointed at Dean and asked, "What's it gonna be?"

Crowley knew they were going to be stubborn about this. This was just like making a deal. All it took was a slight push in the right direction and then you would have the client running around doing what you wanted thinking they got what they wanted but there was that thing about the soul… It didn't apply here but the principle was just the same. He smirked, "Gentlemen enjoy your last few sunsets."

"Wait."

That was just what he was waiting for. Crowley grinned to himself as he paused and turned to look at the Winchesters. He raised his brow as he watched the look of disbelief cross Sam's face. It would have been a Kodak moment and he would treasure it.

"I'll go."

So reluctant the words were wrung from Dean's lips. It was a sweet sound to hear for Crowley. It was even sweeter when he heard Dean tell Sam that he believed him. He loved the scent of a desperate man. It was what made things better for him in the long run. He always got the best deal. Now was the time to really drop in the bombshell.

Turning on his heel, Crowley looked at the Winchesters, "Now that we got that all settled, I've made arrangements to keep you company Sam." He took in the glare that appeared after the slight look of hurt that disappeared rapidly. He looked at Dean and then Sam and added, "What? Did you think that I would let you stay here without some form of company?" He managed to look affronted at the very idea.

"Right, cause you don't trust me," Sam muttered darkly.

"I don't trust you and not really Dean over much either," Crowley agreed while making the expression he made when he was going to show something bigger and better. "But," he held up a finger as he paused, "I do trust _her_."

"She's not available," Dean replied looking annoyed at the whole thing.

"Oh really?" Crowley taunted Dean at being a know-it-all before giving a snap of his fingers.

It was one of his better performances when pulling the rabbit out of the hat. And she looked good too. Crowley knew that she had gone onto Karnak once he got over the surprise of her not being there. Plus he wasn't a bloody idiot having felt like every other thing in all creation the ripple effect she caused. He figured that the goddess that favored her would take her and possibly make sure everything was all right; it technically wasn't interfering with humans and Crowley had to appreciate the loopholes that they could use.

She was instantly there and she looked a little confused at the whole thing so he made his introductions, "Hello sweetheart."

He had to admit he didn't expect the slap. He expected a punch and knew she could pack one but never could he imagine that she would be a woman and actually slap him. Though he had to admit privately that it actually felt good. Still he put a hand to his cheek and looked affronted as he said, "Ow. What was that for?"

"I'm not your sweetheart," Angela replied looking at him with a glare.

Crowley straightened up and made a slight miffed sound at that. He then turned his full gaze onto her and said I a low tone, "Like it or not you are my sweetheart. I like you better than any of the rabble I've dealt with and don't forget _I_ was the one that taught you everything you know about making a deal and breaking them."

"And what do you want from that? A medal?" Angela crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the demon.

"And how did that work out?"

Crowley was hoping she would lay out a punch. It would only make him feel all tingly inside having the most beautiful and violent thing to walk the earth hit him, maybe bloody him up a bit. It was a bit of a turn on. When she didn't respond he said, "Look I brought you back from whatever misery you were being put through."

"And probably have half the Guard searching for me with that stunt. Right in front of Nile goddess too," she spat back.

"Just let that featherbrain you're fond of know. He'll set 'em straight. Right now I need you here." Crowley made the suggestion like it was nothing and in truth it was no big deal. If they were as good as they claimed, they would know that she wasn't in any real danger.

"Whoa, if we're going after this demon, maybe Angie should come along," Dean pointed out.

It was amusing to see the look of confusion on her face but Crowley wanted to curse Dean at that moment. There was a delicate process here and it could be easily screwed up. He cast a look at Dean before approaching Angela probably too close for either Winchester's comfort but he didn't care. Looking her in the eye, he said, "I need you to stay here, keep the home fires burning and Sam out of trouble."

"Why? He can keep himself out of trouble," came the tart reply.

"Mmm maybe, in case you didn't notice, because you don't let things go to hell one way or another," Crowley replied almost shouting at her. He stared at her and added, "Sam's not invited to this soiree I have with Dean to grab a pesky demon that could lead you to Pestilence. I need you to keep him from sulking."

"How about I stab you and we go get this demon ourselves?"

Crowley expected that and countered with, "Because it's a waste of your talents and I'm the only one that knows. You kill me… nothing."

It wasn't exactly true but Crowley needed her to cooperate. He watched as she glanced at Sam and then Dean. Dean's silent reaction made up her mind sine she turned to look at him with a pointed look, "Alright then. I'll stay."

"Good," Crowley replied as he turned to leave, followed by Dean. He motioned with his fingers in a counting motion.

"If you hurt Dean or he comes back not to my satisfaction, you'll pay for it out of your ass."

"And there it is," Crowley muttered to himself, "Just the way I like my sweetheart."

* * *

Dean didn't like this whole plan but it was one of the best options they had at the moment. He really, _really_ hated the fact that Crowley basically had one up on them with this by refusing to take Sam along. In the long run, he had to admit the demon was right since Sam had been trying to kill the demon since he showed up. Then Crowley bringing Angela back from… wherever she was…

To be honest, he wanted to smile at the fact that she slapped Crowley and the demon had a look of surprise on his face. It was probably a short lived victory since Crowley seemed to be a bit of a masochist when it came to dealing with her. He was glad she was there and she was right in that they could have stormed the castle together but maybe it was better in the long run for her to be there with Sam and deep down she probably wanted to be with him as well.

So he was stuck in his sweetheart with Crowley and parked outside of Niveus Pharmaceuticals, casing the joint since they were going to go in and literally kidnap the number two man to the horsemen. He heard the low growl from Zeppelin and Xander. He decided to leave Moira, or rather that little lady made the choice herself, with Sam. Better safe than sorry and he got a kick out of the fact that Crowley was so uncomfortable around the puppies. His lip twitched slightly as his peripheral vision noted Zeppelin's alert posture. "Demons."

"No, human shields," Crowley replied almost bored with the whole thing but he was willing to tolerate it. "The demons are up top, twelfth floor."

Dean looked back at the building. Then they were going to have to do this stealthy. "Then we'll have to find a way in through the back."

"You Winchesters make everything so complicated," Crowley replied exasperated. "At least she would have gone through the front door."

"Not at the expense of people," Dean pointed out. He glared at Crowley for good measure.

"You really haven't seen what she could do," Crowley pointed out in a sultry tone it was almost crooning. "Believe me, once you get a taste, you'd call for it more often than you'd tell yourself you won't."

Dean had looked away and was going to come back with a rejoinder when he noticed the demon was no longer in the passenger seat. "Oh crap." He glanced in the backseat and eyed Xander, "Why didn't you stop him?"

The puppy expression was too cute for the situation and it had Dean roll his eyes at the dog. At least Zeppelin was still watching and he heard a slight growl coming from the pup. He turned towards the building and frowned when he saw something. Pulling up his binoculars, he set his sights on Crowley standing right behind the security deskman waving a knife at him in hello. It was sudden when the demon grabbed the guy and slit his throat. "Oh, crap. Come on, Zep, Xander."

He was out of the car and racing towards the front doors. He couldn't believe that this was happening. Maybe he should have insisted that Angela come because then she would have kicked Crowley's ass. He ran up to the door and banged on it while Zeppelin barked and snarled and Xander was growling and growing bigger and bristly.

"Door's open," Crowley's voice hollered like it was nothing.

Dean opened the door but not before telling both pups to take it easy. He didn't need them getting upset and tearing at Crowley and get hurt. He walked in and found the two bodies bled out and Crowley standing there, cleaning his knife with a handkerchief. He looked at the demon shocked at what he found and in disbelief.

"What?"

Dean gestured at the bodies like the demon couldn't see the obvious. "You killed them?"

Crowley didn't answer right away but rather sidestepped around the corpse on the floor making a slight face of disgust. He paused long enough to explain, "We're on a tight schedule. Come on." He grabbed Dean by the sleeve and led the way to the elevator. When he noticed that he kept looking back he asked, "Now you're squeamish? Please."

Dean wasn't squeamish. He was outraged at what Crowley did. Essentially he treated those people like they were collateral damage and they probably were in the demon's mind. He was stunned by the whole thing and would have preferred that they sneak in. He was stunned enough to let the demon lead him to the elevator and shove him in.

"Go get them, tiger."

It brought Dean out of his funk long enough to realize that Crowley wasn't in the elevator with him and he only had one dog, Zeppelin. He held up his hand to stop the elevator door from closing, "You're not coming?"

"Oh no. It's not safe up there. There's demons."

"Yeah, I get that. Xander."

"Look," Crowley waved his hand like Dena had nothing to worry about, "Just do what I told you. This mutt will stay down here." At the look Dean was giving him he added, "That thing in there with you is a tracker. He'll get you the right one. This one… not sure."

"Hell no." Dean didn't like where this was going and if he was going up on the twelfth floor with a bunch of demons, then he was taking backup even if they were still puppies.

"Believe me that runt of Cerebus will do what you need," Crowley replied. "Just do what I told you and try to be convincing. It'll work like a charm. Trust me." He reached in and pushed Dean into the elevator.

Dean knew he was asking for trouble going along with this. He didn't like it at all. Sighing he reached into his jacket and pulled out the knife. Well, since there were demons up there, might as well be ready. He looked down at Zeppelin who was looking about the size of a year and a half old pup. His dog was growling and bristling. "Hey easy there Zep."

Zeppelin growled low in his throat and began pacing in the elevator car. He kept looking at the door as he paced in front of his hunter. Dean knew the pup was on the trail of the demons and would probably bolt the moment the door opened. "Sorry about this boy. I know demon scent drive you nuts but…" He reached down to pet the dog.

Zeppelin paused in his pacing and allowed the head rub. He looked up at Dean as if to say that he was going to do whatever he said and it was not because he was a Wilder and bred to obey but because he chose him. It was the look of loyalty that helped to coin dogs as man's best friend. The dog then looked at the door poised and alert and ready to go.

Dean gave a final rub. "Okay Zep. Just back me up. Stay with me."

The elevator door opened and Dean walked right through. It was slow and treacherous walking through since a demon could pop out anywhere. There was only one demon guarding the door to where the head demon was and he took it out with the knife while Zeppelin held onto the demon to keep it from going anywhere.

The double doors opened the moment Dean let the body fall. He looked up just as he reached out with his hand to tap Zeppelin on the shoulder. He saw sitting at the desk looking every much the CEO the demon he had come to see.

"Dean Winchester. What, no appointment?"

Dena took a breath and stepped over the body with Zeppelin at his side loping along, ready to spring if needed. "Kind of an eleventh hour thing you know?"

"Well, then you're just on time. Have a seat. And keep the dog on a leash."

Dean turned when he heard the door closed. He was like a mouse being trapped in a cage with a snake. And there was a chair being offered. Oh yeah, this was really going to go over well. He eyed it warily.

"How's your brother?"

Dean looked at the demon warily as he put the knife back in his jacket. He approached the proffered chair and sat down. He kept the firm look even though he felt quaking at the demon looking at him.

"Well down to business, then. What can I do for you?"

It was way too similar to what Zachariah used to say to him before he stabbed him. And it made Dean feel a little uncomfortable. Still he managed to remember what Crowley told him and replied, "It's about what I can do for you."

"Really?"

Taking a breath, Dean laid it out, "Me and Sam dropped two of your jockeys. I think you know that."

"Yes I got the memo."

"Well we kept their secret power rings, which is why I'm here." Dean prayed that Crowley was right on this. "I heard some folks saying that you wanted them back. And you were willing to pay." HE gave one of his smiles reserved for conducting business.

"Where are they?"

"Not here. But you want them, you come with me. Nice and civil. Get out of your little Batcave here and discuss a transaction," Dean laid out the terms. He watched the smug expression on the demon for any signs of subterfuge.

"Who says I want them?"

"What?"

"Who says I want them?"

Dean realized he was getting into hot water right about now. He gulped slightly and did what he always did and that was to cover his ass, "You know… folks."

"You see, War and Famine… even if I could cram the rings back on their bony fingers, I doubt it would do much good. They're withered husks right now. Fetal position on the floor. All thanks to you."

Dean swallowed as he looked up at the demon that had gotten really close to him. This wasn't looking good as the demon continued, "So I don't want the rings. What I want is retribution and I'm gonna rip it right out of your ass."

The next thing Dean knew was that he was thrown out of the office and onto the hallway floor. The demon advanced towards him, intent on taking it out of his ass by giving him a couple of kicks before Zeppelin jumped in barking and growling. Dean's eyes went wide as the pup launched himself at the demon and clamped his jaws on the demon's leg.

It was comical somewhat but months had passed since they could be easily tossed aside and Dean could tell Zeppelin drew blood as his jaws pulled and ripped and tore the flesh from the demon's leg. He got to his feet the moment Zeppelin was shaken off. He called to the pup, "Zep, come one."

Dean made a beeline to the elevator. He had to get out of there. He so wasn't ready for this. He got in and pressed the button, feeling that maybe he bruised a few ribs. Great, she was going to be pissed.

"Dean, now, where are you going? Come on, we're just getting started."

* * *

 **A/N:** Crowley lays down his plan and Sam has to stay behind. Whoa! Angie slapped Crowley and Dean is being thrown to the wolves! Stay tuned for next time on Dancing with the Devil...


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Angela looked out the window as she watched the Impala take off with Dean and Crowley. She pursed her lips since she didn't like what was going on and didn't have the full picture. Her only relief was that Zeppelin and Xander were going with him. She took in a deep breath and sighed as she hugged her arms around her body. She didn't look at Sam but asked, "Can you tell me what is going on?"

Sam had been watching through the same window. He felt hurt and angry that Dean decided to go with this plan. He wasn't upset with Angela since in all fairness, she hadn't been around to hear the story. Sighing he replied, "Crowley appeared after we passed through our fifth town saying that he knew how to find Pestilence."

"He can find Pestilence?" Angela raised a brow at that.

"Well the guy who knows where he is." Sam shrugged his shoulders as he turned away from the window.

Angela thought about it and nodded, "Okay."

"It's not okay since it's Crowley."

"And I'm not arguing with that," Angela replied softly. She gave a gentle look in Sam's direction and caught his eye. She could see his frustration with things. She sighed and looked away looking for something to do. Glancing back and giving a slight smile she asked, "So what did you do?"

Sam glanced at her and took a moment to really look at her. She looked really nice and her hair was down, the way he liked it. When he heard her question and saw her grin he made a slight sound and a sort of smile, "I tried to kill him several times. And I missed."

Angela hummed at that and gave a slight smile, "I would have done the same but I got it out a long time ago." At the look Sam was giving her, she explained, "When Ellen and Jo…" She made a slight gesture with her head.

"When you said that Kess needed a moment," Sam said more as a statement.

"He really did need some time. I just… took the opportunity. And I let him have it."

"But you didn't kill him."

"No."

"Any reason why?" Sam wasn't looking to pick a fight but he was curious as to why she let the demon go after whatever she did to him.

Angela had walked right by the lit fireplace and shifted to look at Sam. She remembered that conversation with Crowley and she had some reason why. "The finger pointing game," she replied after thinking about it. "Point a finger and three are pointing right back at you. That and… I couldn't really fault him though being able to tell whether or not a demon is bullshitting me is a little bit out of sorts."

It was an honest answer and Sam had calmed down enough to be a bit more conversational. He offered, "Still better than what most people can do."

Angela hummed and grinned at that, "Flatterer."

"You're right," Sam admitted. He gave slight grin but it was sober. He put his hands in his pockets and looked downward as he decided how to ask what he really wanted to know.

"You're thoughts are loud, Sam."

Sam looked up and saw that Angela was still standing there. She was looking at him with a gentle expression that was encouraging. Sighing slightly he asked, "So… uh… about Karnak…"

"It was funerary. For Gabriel and very… releasing," Angela replied, knowing what Sam wanted to know. "And they wanted to make sure that I'm okay. I mean it's not every day that I 'tear' the veil and practically scare people." She air quoted when she said the word 'tear' since she still wasn't sure about the idea but she did know that she felt different and it wasn't just grief.

"You don't think you did anything like that?"

"No I don't," she replied, "But I know something is different. Mostly it has to do with my senses and reaction time." She gave a slight smile to indicate it wasn't a big deal as she said, "I know this because a couple of wise asses decided I was a worthy target to try and rough up."

"And you showed them different," Sam said more as a statement than a question. He knew she could take care of herself but he still felt a little guilty that he hadn't been there though she would probably give the lecture she gave him a long time ago.

"First a fist fight that made the ass look like one and then when he tried a cheap shot… Let's just say I have a lot more power to move something." Angela shrugged her shoulders at that. "Certainly made them think twice."

"So nothing unusual."

"If there is… I can't see it and don't want to unless it decides to show itself first," she replied. "I got enough on my plate currently figuring out how to stop the Apocalypse… along with other things." Angela put her fingertips together and looked downward, not sure how to say what she had thought about along with everything else that had gone on the last week in Karnak time.

Sam heard the slight uncertainty in her voice. "What other things?"

Angela pursed her lips while still pressing her fingertips together. She wasn't sure how to say what she wanted to say without it hurting Sam. Yet he was expecting an answer and she decided to tell him and pray that he wouldn't take it the wrong way. Swallowing slightly she looked up at him as she replied softly, "About… us."

Sam resisted from panicking though inside he was quaking. Did she want to end things? Was she having second thoughts because of what happened? Knowing that to assume was not the best thing to do, he swallowed back his panic and asked, "What about it?"

"That…" Angela started chewing her lower lip and then looked away. "It isn't fair… to you. With everything going on and what could happen…"

Sam blinked at what he was hearing. She sounded like she wanted to end things but not quite. Or she was making reasons he should break up with her and put it on her. It was a typical thing she did in general. "Do you want to back off?" He asked the question to put the ball in her court. He knew what he wanted but he needed to know what she wanted.

"No," Angela replied quickly. She didn't want to but… "Just I can't ignore a few things that are… different between us." She started to play nervously with her fingers. "For instance… what I am."

That was an issue. If he and Dean lived to be old men, and that was a big if, she wouldn't age. They could be in their sixties and she'd still look like she was in her twenties. She already was five hundred years old. Still it didn't matter to him. "And it doesn't matter to me," he replied.

Angela looked up and stared at Sam in an inquisitive fashion. Sam got the impression that she was studying his words carefully by staring at him in that fashion. He had forgotten, and she admitted freely, that she had a damaged psyche and had a low sense of self-worth. It made his own guilty feelings seem insignificant but she never treated them that way. She replied, "It doesn't matter that I am not completely human meaning that I have a blood habit, pointy teeth and abnormal senses that would freak most people out?"

"No."

"Not even the fact that I could, and it's a strong and painful possibility, outlive you?"

"Not even," Sam replied with a shake of his head. He knew what he was getting into the moment he realized his full feelings for her and what Akira explained to him when Angela expressed interest, real interest. He took in the slightly baffled look on her face like she couldn't believe what he was saying. It sort of hurt but then he recalled how he questioned her readiness to forgive him for the mess they were in and still trying to fix. The feeling was mutual.

"It should," she finally replied very softly to the point that it was almost a whisper.

Sam heard her thought and replied, "But it doesn't." He took a chance and advanced towards her and reached for her hand. He held it in his large ones and rubbed it, tracing the contours of it while he continued, "It doesn't because I meant what I said and was serious when I did the gesture thing. I love you, Angie and… maybe it feels like the worst time ever but… I don't care if it means getting to spend any amount of time with you, making you happy. If I have a lifetime with you, I'll take it. Why are you talking about this?"

Angela watched as Sam rubbed her hand. She always had liked it when he caressed him. She swallowed slightly at that and replied, "Because I've… been thinking about this plan and… even if we do get all four rings and open the door… what do we do then?"

Sam was considered the quick to read between the lines when it mattered. He realized what she had meant and he jumped to conclusions, "No way Angie. I mean it."

"The only way to get Lucifer back in… is to say yes and take control and jump in."

"And there is no way you're saying yes."

It was on the tip of Angela's tongue to protest hotly and ask him who made him the boss. Sensing that Sam had more to say, she remained silent and let him speak. She pursed her lips and gave him her full attention.

Sam was surprised that she didn't protest but hid it as he blurted out, "If anyone says yes, it will be me." He noted the widening of her eyes but he continued, "I can get Lucifer to jump in."

"You mean take control of the wheel," Angela replied in a low tone.

"Bobby did. You did." Sam paused when he saw she was struggling what to say. No doubt she was going to tell him it was a snowball's chance and she was probably right but she would also think about it. Finally he said, "Look, I'm not lining up to say yes unless everyone is on board, including you. It's something I need to do. Just… think about it."

Angela was silent when Sam finished and then left the room. He probably blurted that out right on the fly and needed time to process it himself. She would give him that and turned to look out the window. She turned back when she heard the clink of a whiskey bottle and Sam offering her a glass. Normally she would have taken the bottle and left him the glass but she needed to taper down since she had been on a drinking binge and she needed her reflexes up if and when they got their info on Pestilence. She did offer him a kiss to his cheek to show that she was thinking about things.

She couldn't help but overhear Sam when he called Bobby to update what was going on. He gave the song and dance about what happened while she was gone. She took a peek around the corner and noticed that nearly over half the bottle was gone. And his speech sounded drunk. She almost winced when she heard Bobby scream over the line about the idea of Sam saying yes to Lucifer. Thinking about it, even she knew that was the conundrum of their plan.

 _How are you gonna control the devil when you can't even control yourself._

Angela was brought out of her thoughts when she heard that and winced. She knew both Dean and Bobby could be harsh and she still remembered how Dean sounded earlier that year. She watched as Sam looked at nothing in particular as he hung up his phone. She watched his facial features seem to sadden and opened her mouth slightly and closed it. She knew what the argument was about.

Stepping into the room quietly she came up to Sam and said softly and firmly, "I believe you can."

Sam was used to her sneaking up on him but it still made him jump slightly when she appeared really close and did it very quietly. He figured it was a bit of a game for her coupled with the old habits excuse. He was used enough to process what she had said and looked at her. "What?"

"I believe you can," Angela repeated. She gave a slight smile before adding, "Different strengths, Sam. And… I don't doubt us but the things that could make life more difficult than it already is." She gave a slight shrug. "But I'm with you."

Sam looked at her as she looked at him with a firm conviction. Ever since this started she always seemed to have faith in him even when it was clear that she shouldn't. "Angie…"

"I'm not saying we're going to agree on the same things cause we won't but… I will stand by you." Angela looked at Sam, her heart showing in her eyes. "Anything involving life and death on a world saving scale… all or nothing."

"Always and forever," Sam corrected, agreeing with her after he realized the magnitude of what she was saying. "But if ever any moment you or I think that it's not worth it…"

"Sam," Angela interrupted. Slowly she reached up and moved a few errant locks out of the way. "That is what I meant," she added with a smile. "Always and forever."

Sam stared at her and managed to grasp her hand to stop her from what she was doing. Staring at her, he leaned forward until her was really close. He could sense her nervousness but she didn't run away not even after he pressed her against the wall. Gently he pressed his mouth against hers and kissed her hard. When he tried to pull away, she chased and returned it, inviting him in, trusting him.

* * *

 _That's what you get for working with a demon._

That was about right and Dean was pissed that he had to learn that of all things from a demon and to top it off, a demon like Crowley. He wiped the blood away from the cuts he sustained from tangling with the demon stable boy and grimaced more from pain than actual anger. This had better be worth it and he hated the feeling that he owed the demon and it ate at him as he sat in the driver's seat of the Impala driving back to where Sam and Angela were.

He had managed to make it to the bottom floor with Zeppelin but the demon was too quick. He was there in the elevator and would have taken more of his vengeance out of his ass if it hadn't been for Crowley. It still made him pissed to the point that he rubbed both Xander and Zeppelin's heads for comfort.

Crowley managed to bag the demon with a sigil drawn sack and beat the crap out of his skull. If the human that owned the meat was alive, he was most certainly dead now. Now the demon was sitting in the back with Crowley. This was definitely like the start to one of those really bad jokes though if Angela were there, Dean was certain she'd be able to make some sort of wise quip and it would come off sounding good. Thinking about her, he hoped that Sam filled her in on the details and that she kept his brother from being too upset. Sam did seem relieved that she was back and it had Dean wonder what it was they really had.

A sound caught Dean's attention and he checked the rearview mirror. He also noticed that Xander was facing backwards with his front paws on the backseat and watching both demons intently and a consistent low growl was coming from his throat. He saw what was going on and glanced towards the back and barked, "Hey, hot stuff, watch the upholstery."

"Up yours mate," Crowley retorted as he finished his carving act. "This bit of carving will tie our friend here down. No zapping off, no smoking out. Locked in the meat suit. An important piece of our bargaining strategy."

Dean was quiet for the moment. That made sense. It just seemed a little grotesque to have to carve it directly into the flesh. Then again he and Sam and Angela had angel markings carved onto their ribs. It was kind of the same thing and plus he really couldn't afford to be squeamish with this now that they were in this.

"Now, up here, we don't want I-50," Crowley spoke up leaning forward. He moved away when the growl from Xander got louder and Zeppelin turned to look back at him and gave him a toothy growl and bristling fur. Shifting, Crowley continued, "Take 93 North."

Dean relished the feeling of satisfaction of the puppies growling at Crowley. They wouldn't hurt the demon without his say so but it was fun to watch them assert their dominance. It was short lived once Crowley started giving him different directions, "What are you talking about?"

"Look, we can't take this guy back to your brother," Crowley admitted, "Or to her."

That caught Dean's attention. Something was up if the demon was saying something like that. "Why the hell not?"

Crowley didn't say anything but sat back away from the growling puppies. Dean though wanted an answer, "Crowley."

Crowley didn't want to reveal what he knew. In any game of business, you got the best deal by how well you played keeping the cards most important closest to your chest. This tidbit he knew could jeopardize what they needed to get to Pestilence. Yet Crowley knew that if he didn't say anything, Dean was the type to go for the throat in demanding answers and it was something he wanted to avoid. He admitted, "They got history, all right?"

That wasn't enough for Dean. He was certain he knew of all of Sam's past encounters with demons so to hear this… He had to know and he had to know about his girl too. Slamming on the brakes, he brought the Impala to a screeching halt. Turning around, he stared hard narrowing his eyes at Crowley and said, "You wanna go anywhere, you start talking. What history?"

Crowley looked at Dean. He wasn't really scared of the elder Winchester but it was a rather intimidating sight to see Dean Winchester glaring at him and two hell puppies growling and baring their teeth at him and ready to pounce. He probably could beat the puppies off but it wasn't worth it especially since they were bred to hunt his kind. Pursing his lips, he gave, "He was one of Sam's friends from Stanford. His name is Brady."

That was a start. It answered some questions but not all of them. Dean looked at Crowley, "And Angie."

"He… was the demon that almost killed her."

Dean could now begin to understand why Crowley didn't want Sam to be near this. Sam had it rough with people he trusted betraying him and he knew his little brother really didn't like being manipulated into doing things that were against his nature. He also knew that Sam had issues with meeting people that he perceived hurt Angela in the past whether it was an accepted thing like with Cary or something like this.

"So you can see why we can't let your brother be a part of this," Crowley was saying. He eyed the puppies warily since they hadn't given up on giving him the death look. "Now for Angela… she's a bit more controlled but after what happened…"

"Okay enough about that," Dean interrupted. As far as he was concerned if it wasn't a problem, then he wasn't going to touch it. "You don't know anything about her."

"Oh I know plenty," Crowley countered in his low tone. "I know that she has… talents that you can't possibly conceive. Talents capable enough to cause ripples of panic on both sides of this war and yet I am working with you and making sure she stays in the game because she's probably the only one that can pull this off." He glared at Dean as if daring him to challenge what he asserted. "Besides I know you and the moose can't do anything without her babysitting you."

"Hey," Dean warned, "Enough."

"What?"

Dean thought about what to say. The last time he tried to be tough he ended up babbling like an idiot and felt very embarrassed by it. Finally he said, "I get it and it's all the more reason that Sam and Angie be there."

"And you're going to made things harder to pull the deal off," Crowley countered, glaring back at Dean. "They have history and if the little bugger here decides it's playtime it will make things difficult."

"But that shouldn't be a problem because Angie knows how to make scum like you talk." Dean was going out on a limb here but he had observed how she could get someone with a tough façade to talk.

"And you're comfortable with her ability to make even someone like me scream and in the most grotesque way possible?"

It was a valid question and Dean knew that. He should have known that Crowley would have pulled that out of the hat. What demon hadn't heard of Angela and her days of torturing demons? Alistair used to talk about her all the time when he was in hell, claiming that she was an adversary worthy of getting to know and then adding a few touches of his own to her arsenal. And Dean knew that he would rather he say yes to Michael than let her go through that again.

"Look, maybe she can come because she doesn't lose her temper so easily… if she has one." Crowley looked aside as if to think about it. He shrugged his shoulders before looking back at Dean. "But Sam… Does trying to kill me ring any bells?"

This was a difficult decision and while Dean knew that they could pull this off without Sam and Angela, he knew that in the long run, keeping it from Sam was not going to go well. The lies and the deceit nearly tore them apart before. To do it now was not going to win any points with anybody. Besides, Sam deserved to know and as far as Angela went… He knew she had a laundry list or a shit list like he and Sam did of the things they wanted to get back at. Yet unlike him, she was willing to put it aside to stick to the mission. She was the kind to compartmentalize even if it made her seem cold but she still felt and it was evident in her eyes even though her expression said different.

Crowley sat in the back and sighed. He really didn't want Sam to be near this demon since he knew things could go wrong. If it did, then to salvage it would require him to put his neck on the line more than he already had. "Look…"

"No," Dean said, interrupting. He turned his gaze towards Crowley and noted the look on the demon's face. "Sam is in this." When Crowley looked like he was going to protest, he cut him off, "Look, I let you leave him behind so we can get this asshat and I let you manipulate me into luring him down so you can bind him. There is no way this is going without Sam or Angela. No way." He then turned and started the car again.

"You better be right," Crowley muttered a little put out. He knew he couldn't pull this off on his own so he was going to play fiddle for now. _Otherwise you may see a side of my sweetheart you won't like._

Dean didn't say anything for a while. Secretly he wondered the same thing. Out loud he said, "I'll talk to Sam."

* * *

 **A/N:** And another Samgie moment and the origin from the one shots of the phrase 'always and forever'. That scene was inspired by Athanasia's All or Nothing. And we've got Dean and Crowley bagging a demon. Stay tuned for next time on Dancing with the Devil...


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Staying in one place and doing nothing except what you were there for was nothing new to Angela. She had been out on stakeouts before. It usually entailed long nights watching the target of interest and making sure if they were or weren't what you were looking for. If they were, then you dealt with it. If not, you moved on. Granted that this situation was a little different, the principles of being patient while waiting were the same. It was just a little harder after you went and just had a make out session that could have gone further but didn't.

The thought had her blush. Angela had long ago heard Jo's explanation about her behavior but refused to accept it. Since then, it was becoming harder and harder not to react to those urges and impulses that everyone said was normal for her kind. It was especially difficult when Sam was the asserter and took the lead. It impressed her and encouraged feelings and emotions that she long equated with being too forward. It encouraged her to react and react she did by kissing him back and allowing him to deepen it.

She had been well aware of his hands on her body, particularly her hips. They fit comfortably on them like her hips were made for his hands. His thumbs started rotating on her abdomen and moving her shirt. She ignored it at the time even though she felt her body flush from shyness. It only became an issue when he actually touched her skin with his thumb. She wasn't ready for that and it startled her.

Sam apologized right away but she didn't like the wounded look in his face. She insisted that she just didn't expect that touch and it startled her. Whether or not he believed her, he accepted it and still said he was sorry. They stood there looking at each other for the longest time. At least it seemed like it to her until he gently touched a stray lock and fixed it. That was when he leaned in close and said few words and then 'always and forever.'

It was enough to relax her a little but her body still felt on edge and she knew why. So she made do sitting next to Sam on the bed and they waited for Dean and Crowley to return. It made her nervous leaning against him but he all he did was wrap an arm around her and they sat in silent together until Moira decided she was tired of being alone and jumped up to sit in her lap. She chuckled at that and spoke to the dog, "You're not mine."

Moira merely sat up and primly settled herself in Angela's lap causing Sam to chuckle and say, "She knows that. She's just doing what I asked of her." His voice sounded lighter than it had earlier as he reached and rubbed Moira's ears.

"You asked of her?" Angela raised her brow at that. She knew that Sam and Dean had been training their puppies when they could and she had seen what they can do.

"Yeah. She is to stay with you when you feel down or you know… and to look after you." Sam cleared his throat and turned his attention to Moira.

Angela couldn't help but smile at that. She hummed and leaned in closer and rubbed her head slightly on Sam's shoulder. "I see you've picked up on training Wilder pups. It's good."

Sam felt the slight rub on his shoulder and glanced at what Angela was doing. He only blinked but didn't really mind. He watched as she closed her eyes in contentment as her fingers rubbed Moira's fur. It was a sight he enjoyed seeing and made it a personal goal to make her feel like that. Apart from that, he could admit that it soothed him since he was still feeling miffed at this whole plan.

He sat there waiting until he heard the telltale sound of the Impala coming up. He didn't want to move since it seemed that Angela was asleep but she was awake and Moira was already at the edge of the bed and looking out the window. He walked towards the window and peeked out. He was joined by Angela and noticed that all traces of contentment were gone. In its place was someone who was ready to do whatever was asked of them; a person ready to fight.

"Well there is no use prolonging the inevitable," Angela said as she looked at Sam.

"I still don't like this. The working with Crowley."

"I know." Angela pursed her lips and looked back out the window and watched as Crowley was escorting the captured demon with Dean in tow. "But…" She looked at Sam and said, "It is not as black and white as we like to believe. Sometimes you have to dance with the devil in order to be able to find that one chink in the armor. The real test is not to lose yourself in that quest. Something I think I've failed at."

"No you haven't," Sam replied gently in protest. He cupped her cheek and gently stroked it with his thumb. "If anything… you know how to play the other side to making them think you can be bought but you've come through. Just…" He paused, not sure of what to say. He heard the door open and close and pressed a kiss to her forehead before heading towards the stairs.

Angela followed as she clasped her hands in front of her. Lately things had been charged in emotions. Right now she needed to tuck that special feeling when she was with Sam away safely. She had to be the warrior now. It was a path she had been trained for and chosen long ago. Whether it was destiny… that was something for debate since she believed that not all things were finite. Plus she was wrestling with the fact that she still wanted to wring Crowley's neck since she smelled blood and it wasn't just the demon's.

Schooling her features, she followed Sam in a more sedate manner and eyed Crowley with a raised brow. She watched as Sam asked the demon where Dean was and didn't fail to let the demon see that she wasn't in the mood for games. As much as she was probably still indebted to the King of the Crossroads for teaching her what she knew, she was not going to be a pushover.

"Now, for the record," Crowley replied, "I'm against this."

"Of course," Angela replied as she stood in front of Crowley with her hands clasped in front of her. Xander had joined her with Moira at her feet and they looked like a pair of guard dogs. "And we have a long overdue continuation of a conversation."

Crowley eyed her and glanced at Sam. It was Angela though that had him a little worried. She should have known that she would have smelled the blood. He didn't think though that she would be able to tell the difference. Keeping his composure he continued, "Negotiating a high level defection… it's a very delicate business."

"You're breaking my heart," Angela countered while keeping her posture.

Sam noticed that Crowley was standing in front of a door. He knew what that meant. He made a step forward and was deftly blocked by Crowley sidestepping into his path. "What are you talking about?"

"I begged Dean not to come back," Crowley replied while rolling his eyes in an annoyed expression while keeping a wary eye on Angela. She just kept staring at him with that expression that was starting to make him uncomfortable, even more than the fact that Dean forced him into this. "We should be miles away from you and you sweetheart. He replied with a colorful rejoinder about my corn chute."

Sam managed to scoff at that and his lip twitched. No doubt Dean would have said something. He didn't have to look at Angela. She was still maintaining that stoic expression and it helped him understand why she had the moniker Ice Queen though he didn't really think that was an accurate description. Still it was effective enough.

Crowley knew that he had to let Sam pass. He had said his piece. Clicking his tongue on his teeth, he said, "So go ahead. Go ruin our last best hope." He waited until Sam passed him to add the rejoinder, "It's only the end of the world after all."

"Oh you'll find that there is always a chance," Angela replied after Sam passed. She paused in front of Crowley and said in a low tone, "And I believe I made stipulations about this retrieval."

"Please," Crowley scoffed, "You know as well as I that you can't catch this maggot without willing to bleed a little."

"And yet I am inclined to believe that you manipulated the situation to cause the damage," Angela countered as she stared at Crowley. "I warned you."

"Curse the fact you can smell blood. I didn't know you could distinguish."

"Please," Angela scoffed, "Demons have a particular stench. It's why the Wilders go in a frenzy when they smell your kind." She narrowed her eyes at Crowley to indicate how much she loathed his kind.

"Which reminds me," Crowley said in a sort of polite tone. He knew she was angry. He could see it in her posture but the stare was unnerving even with the slight hints of change in her expression. "Call off your dogs or at least have the decency to give some space."

"I don't know. I kind of like it like this." Angela gave a slow smile. It was natural for her to make that expression. It was predatory at times but it also conveyed that she was serious. "Now, are you going to tell me why you are trying the guilt trip about us being here?" She took a step closer towards Crowley that she knew would be uncomfortable at some point.

Crowley looked at her. He wanted to protest against her being too close. She was within range to probably knife him or even stick her own hand through his chest. She certainly had the upper body strength for it. And he didn't like that since she was the kind that could probably go back on her word if it involved a deal with a demon and she knew how to get out of a business proposition. He cleared his throat, "As I said, I was against this…"

"Crowley," Angela spoke in a low tone. She allowed her eyes to flare, unaware that a shadow crossed upon her person creating a slight stir of power. Her focus was entirely on the demon and she would beat it out of him is she had to.

Crowley noticed the change. That was definitely something he hadn't seen from her before. The eye thing was expected but the feeling of power… it was disturbing. There was something peculiar about it but he couldn't put his finger on it. It was enough to make him nervous. He had to give on this and he held up his hands, "Alright. It had to do with past history."

"What past history?" Angela took a step closer and stared the demon in the eye. The shadow that had developed stayed.

"Past history," Crowley repeated. He held up his hands in surrender and hoped that she would take that universal sign not to unleash her wrath.

Angela would have said something but by then she heard a voice. It was very familiar and one that she hadn't thought she would hear ever again. It stirred up memories that she kept tight and away. She looked in the direction that Sam had gone.

"Sam? Sam, is that you?"

"Brady?"

"Brady hasn't been Brady in years."

Angela turned back towards Crowley. Her eyes were full glowing orbs as she glared at Crowley. She hadn't made a move to grab him but she used her powers and pressed the demon to the wall. She hissed low, "You brought, _him_?"

Crowley stared wide eyed at Angela. He felt the show of power and it had him nervous. He had never seen that from her and it scared him a little. He managed to choke out, "I warned you that this was a bad idea. I knew you had history and tried to tell Dean that it wasn't."

"I'm sure you did." Angela glared at Crowley. "Do you have _any_ idea who that is?" She pointed towards the room that Sam had gone into.

"Plenty and I can see that you two really had history all the more reason for this to be done without you or the moose," Crowley countered, raising his voice slightly. "Now I know we can salvage this with you since you have a cooler head than most."

"That's why you brought me here; hightailed me out of Karnak," Angela countered with a narrow look. "I'm nothing more than a means to making sure that things don't go south for you," she stated more as fact.

"Bingo. Because you know better than the Hardy boys there that there are things that have to remain in order to keep the world in balance. You know that and you wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that."

Angela would have said something but at that moment there was a loud shuffle of feet and Sam grunting. Then appeared both Winchesters with Dean wrestling Sam back and away from the demon. She released Crowley and shot him a look that said this wasn't over and moved over towards them.

Sam was spitting mad. It was Brady. The one who introduced him to Jess. The one who was supposed to be his friend. He was going to kill him. He looked at his brother standing in his way and demanded, "Get out of my way."

"No," Dean replied and stepped forward ready to deliver tough love if necessary.

Sam wasn't in the mood for reason or negotiation. He didn't want to raise a fist to his brother and struggled to maintain control as he once again demanded, "Get out of my way."

Dean knew that Sam was mad. Well mad wasn't the right word. Downright pissed was probably better. Still he had to talk his brother down from killing Brady since right now they needed him to get what they needed without resorting to Angela's more special talents of interrogation. "There is only one way to win and it ain't by killing that thing in there."

Angela had watched the conversation played out and decided that now was time to enter. If there was one thing that Crowley had to be right about it was the fact that she was one of the few people that could convince a stubborn Winchester to dress in drag and do the hula. She said, "Dean's right Sam."

Sam looked at Angela as she stood there with her hands clasped in front of her. She was showing no aggression, nothing but someone there to talk. It belied the fact that she was probably ready to react as she needed. "He… he…" He pointed in the direction of Brady trying to get the words out but he was so angry he had a hard time doing that.

"He introduced you to Jess. I know. I heard," Angela replied. It wasn't quite the truth but close enough. "And right now nothing would make you feel better than sticking that knife into his gut and twisting it a little. Believe me, I know that feeling because sometimes it does seem easier to act on the strength of feelings in a situation like this but in the end…" She paused a moment and looked at both brothers and noticed that Crowley had come into the room. She then added, "Sometimes you have to dance with the devil in order to beat the devil." She turned her gaze on Sam to look him in the eye and prayed that he trusted her enough.

Sam heard what she was saying. He still was angry but he knew his brother was right and she was right. He backed down a little as he returned the gaze with his own. It was like what she had said earlier.

"Well, sounds like you got him nice and fluffed," Crowley interjected as he gave a mocking smile at Dean and Angela. He had no doubt that she could talk Sam down but it just made his job a little harder. "Thanks so much." He then turned and went to go have a few words with Brady but paused by Angela and muttered, "So glad you could get with the program love."

Angela rolled her eyes and walked towards Sam and Dean. There was nothing she'd like more than to wring Crowley's neck and maybe rip his head off. She could do that and it would be satisfying but right now… She sighed as Dean said, "Listen. We need Pestilence to get at the devil. And we need Brady to get to Pestilence."

"Why?" Sam heard the reasoning but that still didn't reduce the sting enough. "Because Crowley said so? Because we trust him now? Like I trusted Ruby? Or like I trusted Brady back at school?"

"Sam," Angela interrupted gently. "You didn't know Brady was a demon then."

"And like that makes it better?" Sam looked at her with a look that clearly showed his distress.

"No," Angela replied honestly. It panged her to see Sam's distress at this. "But it is different. There is a difference between knowing and not knowing. Of course it doesn't do away with the consequences and the guilt."

"Thank you Dr. Phil," Dean retorted. As much as he appreciated her help in calming a situation, sometimes it seemed like she went into a little too much of the truth when laying it all out. Sam didn't need to hear this.

"Just laying it down plain and simple Dean," Angela replied. "You think I don't know what it's like to be betrayed? I thought Alighieri was a friend. I went to hell to save him. I didn't know then that he was a demon and that it was all a trap to get me to hell and make me its prisoner for Alistair because he had heard of what I did to demons topside. I've been on both sides of the fence and believe me, this is no different than those times but the feeling is still the same. And I hate it. Plain and simple." She paused to take a breath since she was close unleashing hell of a sort. "Excuse me," she offered and went to go look out the window.

Sam watched her go and then looked at Dean before going over to join her. "I'm sorry," he offered.

Angela continued to stare out the window looking at nothing in particular except the other houses. The people out there had no idea what the world held beyond what they could see. How different was it when there was a time they did know? She heard Sam's apology and asked gently, "What are you apologizing for? Your reaction is normal."

Sam shuffled on his feet slightly, "Still…"

"Sam, I told you I stand by you and I agree that Brady should be killed. Hell I prefer him to be skinned alive and fed his own entrails."

Sam made a slight face at her candor. He knew she liked a good fight. Occasionally he had heard her make a comment similar to that but it still was a bit of shock. And he had seen her fight so he knew she was capable but the vast majority of her actions suggested otherwise. "A little extreme."

"What can I say, the worm deserves it." Angela shifted to look at Sam. "Look I get you're angry and want to kill him but…" She gave a slight look in the direction of the demon currently undergoing negotiation with Crowley. "We do need the information and I know you'd be the same way if I were to drag Cary in here to ask him to find the same thing and he's not the wanted animal like Crowley is."

Sam snorted at the mention of Cary. He knew that she was right about this. It was just hard to hear it when his emotions were on the line. He suspected that she knew that which was why she chose what she wanted to say and said it. "Glad you didn't summon that asshole."

"See? I knew you wouldn't like it," Angela replied with a teasing smile. It made her feel lighter when Sam chucked slightly in return. "I just have a little more experience."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. We haven't got what we needed and if it panned out." She looked at Sam and added, "Right now… can you just take a walk and think about things? Please?"

Sam knew she wasn't trying to get rid of him and she was asking him to cool off. He could do that, "Alright."

Angela watched him leave to go upstairs and think before going to wait with Dean. She found he was sitting in a chair where he had made himself comfortable with a beer. It was all he could do since he felt like he was caught in the middle of this. He trusted Sam not to go crazy and maybe it could have gone over a little better but he was grateful that Angela stepped in. He did have a tendency to forget that she knew of things like this too and may have gone through them. Drinking seemed to be the solution to getting through it when Crowley walked in and he asked, "How'd it go? Buy your Girl Scout cookies?"

"Not yet," Crowley admitted, peeved that this wasn't going the way he planned. He resisted rolling eyes when Angela came in but he was also alarmed when he didn't see Sam and asked, "Where's your moose?"

"Cooling off," Angela replied in a firm tone. "What's it to you?"

That was some relief for Crowley but not entirely reassuring. He knew Dean trusted Sam as a brother but Angela… her way of thinking was a whole different level and Crowley was surprised at the length of leash she gave to people. Then again it produces loyalty that he could be jealous of. "Well then… get bent."

"You going somewhere?" Dean leaned forward since he sensed something was up. Normally he wouldn't budge if the cause was Angela mostly because he liked it when she made them squirm and showed she was serious.

Crowley looked at the pair of them and reported, "Well, he won't budge. So now I go stick my neck out."

"And I'm sure that is very painful to you." Angela looked at Crowley as she crossed her arms over her chest. She gave a slight smile intending to be mocking about it. "It's nice to see you actually get your hands dirty for once."

"Hey I bashed his head I with a crowbar," Crowley protested.

"Oh so impressive," Angela mocked with a smile. She knew that Crowley had no chance even if they went along with what he wanted in the first place. She was no stranger to interrogation having been on both sides of that fence before. She had been in the prisoner's dilemma and her choice had come out rather… unique. Her response was merely to show that she wasn't impressed with Crowley and that she was enjoying his discomfort.

Dean on the hand realized something was up. He got to his feet and asked point blank, "What are you gonna do?"

Crowley took in the mocking look he was getting. Oh sure she could act smug like she knew the bastard wouldn't budge. He failed to realize that she wanted him to step up and do some work if he wanted to get what he wanted. He replied, "Exactly the kind of desperate swashbuckler I've been trying to avoid."

"He means actually having to do some work for once," Angela clarified. She stared at Crowley trying to look annoyed. She took a couple of steps forward and added, "He's going to kick open a hive of demons." She gave a slow smile.

"Like you have anything better."

"Maybe but it would involve a bit of discomfort on your end and it's worse than kicking the demon's nest," she replied with a slight shrug as if she weren't sure but her tone suggested otherwise.

"You're truly evil, love," Crowley replied in appreciation. He couldn't help but smirk at that. "And I like that. Always have."

"And that is your fault."

Crowley said nothing at first but scoffed slightly as he turned to leave. He paused and turned back to look at the pair of them and added, "This whole bloody ring business better work."

"Doubting us now?"

Crowley looked at Angela and then Dean. "You, no."

Angela snorted and said, "Don't let it hit you in the butts on the way out." She watched as Crowley zapped out of there. Once she was gone she took a breath of relief. "Well that's going to be interesting and I better get to work."

"With what?" Dean had managed to take a sip from his beer as he looked at her.

"Contingency," she replied. "We may need it."

* * *

 **A/N:** And enters in the demon Brady. Makes things harder but it seems that Angie knows him too. I wonder from where... Stay tuned for more Dancing with the Devil...


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Contingency was something that was more of philosophy and a rule of thumb. It helped a lot when Angela flew solo while traveling the world and hunting things. It was a necessary since often you dealt with a situation that could go sideways at any moment when in the hunting business. It also applied when you had to meet with your opponent in war and try to negotiate and it was damned handy when you didn't trust your ally at all but had to work with because it was the only option to stop a larger threat. It was why she was going through the house and making sure that she had options to work with.

It was also a means to cool down herself. She may be better at not letting her anger get the best of her but she was still angry enough to go in and decapitate the demon Brady with Absolution like what Sam wanted to do with the demon knife. She never thought that she would see him again and she didn't bother pursuit, preferring to run away and just keep going. Now it seemed that it was going to bite her in the ass this time around.

Pausing from her preparations, she looked at a dirty mirror hanging on the wall and at her reflection. She thought about things that had been and had happened and what led up to this point. Her reflection seemed to speak volumes to her even though all she was seeing was herself as it was and through a dirty glass. She thought about the first time she met Brady though he had a different meat suit then. She closed her eyes and she could almost hear his voice…

The silence was too quiet and it worried her. Angela turned from what she was doing and quietly went down the stairs. She turned the corner and that was when she heard the click and the scrape of a chair. It was followed by the pounding on the door and shouts that were characteristically Dean. She hissed as she picked up her pace to stop Sam from doing anything stupid.

 _Sam? Sam, come on. Hey!_

"Well, here we go. Are we doing last words or no?"

Angela knew that she had to stop Sam from killing Brady. The only upside she could offer was that he could kill him after they had their information. Silently she ran on the balls of her feet. It was her secret to sneaking up on the boys when she was in the mood to play with them. That and coupled with the increased speed reflexes… it was no wonder Dean thought it was a sexy slinking through the shadows act. Given the way she revealed things it might as well be one. This wasn't an act though. It was a move to save an operation.

Sam knew what he was doing was wrong. But he trusted Brady once in school. He thought they were friends. Hell he introduced him to Jess. It just made him so angry but he wanted answers. No, he needed answers. Gripping the demon killing knife in his hand tightly, he growled as he approached Brady, "Sophomore year, huh"

"Brady here, he was a good kid," Brady admitted with a smirk. "Straight arrow. I mean, your best friend, really. Perfect point of access." He gave a mocking grin at Sam even though he was not in a position of good odds.

Sam eyed the demon with a narrowed look as he thought about a few things. "Thanksgiving?"

"Yes, sir. Remember when I came back from break all messed up? Dropped out of pre-med. The drugs, the bitches." Brady chuckled at Sam as he mockingly laid out the whole story. "That was the new Brady. That was me." He took in Sam's expression and grinned at the anger he was seeing. He was having too much fun with this. "Remember how much time you spent trying to get me back on the right track? You really were a good friend."

Sam shuffled on his feet, trying to control his anger. His hand gripped the knife tighter. He really wanted to stick it to Brady. He wanted to make him pay for everything. Yeah he was back to vengeance now.

"But old Yellow Eyes didn't send me back to be your friend. No, we could tell we were starting to lose you. You were becoming a mild-mannered worthless sack of piss and that was in part to another piece of the puzzle. Isn't that right?" Brady leaned forward in his seat to look past Sam as he shouted his question. "Come on out. I know you're here, been here."

Sam turned slightly when Angela entered the room wearing that same expression she wore when she came down the stairs earlier. He had hoped that she would still be occupied doing whatever she had been doing but he should have known better. She would have picked up on the way how everything felt. She was a hunter in every sense of the word to the point where it was animalistic and instinct, a honed fighter. He should have known that she knew him as well as he knew her.

Angela could have just remained in hiding and only come out if Sam decided to go with impulse and kill Brady. She had arrived to find that the two were chatting and it looked fairly decent and that was a polite way of describing it. She decided then and there not to interfere unless she needed to. She figured Sam needed some answers and Brady was the one to answer them. It wasn't her place anyway. Not after what she had done. But now she was being called out and it wouldn't do any good to stay in hiding since Sam would call her out.

Looking at Brady, she silently stared at him as he chuckled and grinned mockingly at her. He was the same as before and she felt her own anger rise. She didn't react and stared silently at the demon that once killed her and attempted to kill her.

"Well, well, well. You certainly look good for someone who is supposed to be dead and nearly dead," Brady said with an appreciative grin. "So how is your father? Oh I forgot. He's dead."

"You should have considered yourself lucky that I didn't pursue the matter further when I killed that spineless worm you sent to claim that he killed me," Angela replied. "And the same when I didn't seek revenge for the second attempt." She stared down at the demon feeling a myriad of emotions and was well aware that Sam would have questions on how she knew Brady.

"Well now you were part of the cause of us losing Sam here," Brady countered as he looked at Sam. This was going to be sweet. "And we couldn't have that, Sam. You were our favorite." He looked at Angela and added, "And it's not like I wanted to kill you, just get you out of the way. You were one of his favorites too, you know."

"Only because I managed to thwart him time and again," Angela replied.

"Not this time. Got in too deep." Brady grinned and looked at Sam and noted his angry huffing. "Well Sam, to get you back, I hooked you up with a pure, sweet, innocent piece of tail." Brady managed a glance at Angela and noticed her eyes widen slightly as he continued, "And then I toasted her on the ceiling… while your bodyguard here let it happen."

Angela had been in situations where a cover could hold or be blown by one word or phrase. You could never predict which would happen but when a cover was blown or a secret revealed… the world could come crashing down like a ton of bricks. In this case, the guilt she had carried around the last five years was coming to collect and there was nothing she could or want to do or say to prevent it. She stared at Brady since it was easier to do than see the disbelief, shock and hatred Sam would have on his face. It was one luxury she would allow herself since she had faced far worse scrutiny than this.

Brady noted Angela's expression and then the surprised look on Sam's face. This was too good to pass up. "You mean, she never told you that she was there when I toasted Jess on the ceiling and did nothing to stop it?"

Sam heard what Brady said but didn't want to believe it. He couldn't because he knew Angela would have done everything she could to save Jessica. Yet the words were like little knives twisting and digging into him, threatening to shred what he held dear. He took a couple of breaths and adjusted his grip subtly on the knife.

Brady was having too much fun with this. "That's right. The nice piece of tail here was there. Azazel may have put the hit out on Jessica but man, I got to have all the fun. And the bonus was sticking it to Angie here personally for helping us out."

"She thought…." Angela managed to get out after taking a few breaths. She knew Sam deserved the whole truth and so far he had only Brady's word. She could give him this. "She thought you were friends, Brady. I thought so too."

"Yep," Brady replied with a grin. "Let us right in. She was baking cookies. I think it was a recipe you taught her." He then started laughing. "She was so surprised. So hurt when I started in on her. And the look she gave you Angie…" He turned to chuckle at her.

Angela remembered that look all too well. The look of terror and sadness. It was the last thing she saw on that day. And she was powerless to stop it. She could feel the dam breaking and didn't even budge when Sam lost it and rushed the demon to grab him by the neck and hold the blade on him. She saw the look of anger and hatred and took a couple of heaving breaths.

"Come on," Brady egged on, pleased with the results he was getting, "Do it if it'll make you feel better." He grunted when Sam delivered a shallow, burning cut with the knife and continued, "Do it, Sammy! Do it! Come on! And you can take it out on her. She won't stop you either."

That had Sam pause. He looked at Angela and noticed her standing there. It was different… like she was broken, unresisting. He saw her look. If he were to turn on her, she wouldn't resist. He had seen that look once before.

 _Why did you tell Dean to kill you?_

 _I don't know…_

There was more to it. There had to be. He was still angry but more at the fact that he had been had by this sonofabitch he had at his mercy right now. Everything else… there had to be more too it. He knew there were things that were not spoken of because they still caused her pain but if they asked, she would do her best to answer or tell them that she couldn't. Besides, she and Dean were right. If he killed Brady now, they would lose their chance of getting to Pestilence. As much as he disliked working with Crowley… He backed off and went back to where he had locked up Dean to release him, only sparing one look at her.

Angela didn't stop Sam and wasn't going to. She waited for the moment to come but trusted that Sam would come to his senses and at least hold off on killing the demon. If he did, she did have one option of getting the information and it would be a little gross but she would do it. She looked downward and listened to Sam walk away.

"Heh heh, always the one to take the blame huh?"

Angela looked up at Brady. As much as she wanted to sneer at the demon, she didn't have the heart to. It was hard because what she really wanted to do was burst into tears. She couldn't really recall a time when she truly cried and it just seemed like the logical and right thing to do. Yet she managed to maintain a steady tone as she replied, "You're right in that I didn't do anything to stop you. I wasn't fast enough."

"And you truly believed I was Brady," Brady grinned, "Can't get over that you couldn't even sniff me out. Now _that_ is the icing on the cake." He chuckled knowing that the damage was done and she would do one of two things. It would be a kamikaze act to remove herself from the picture but going down swinging or let herself be beaten into submission and by the ones she relied on the most. "Now you can really tell the difference. Bet you wished you had it then."

"I wish I knew a lot of the things I know now back then. It would have saved me from heartache but it would have been inevitable." Angela looked away and wrapped her arms around herself. "You're lucky Sam didn't kill you."

"No. I'm disappointed."

Angela turned to look back at Brady and replied, "I meant lucky so that I wouldn't have to do this." She marched forward and grabbed Brady by the head with her right and focused.

This was unexpected to Brady and was caught off guard by it. He couldn't resist because she forced her way in and it was painful. He grunted in pain as he felt her dig into his demon mind. What the hell was this? His eyes turned black as he looked up at her and noticed her glowing orbs as she looked pointedly at him. "What… are… you doing?"

"Taking a burden that should have been mine," Angela replied as she finished. She gasped once she got what she wanted and released the demon's head. She stood back and looked at him. "Looks like you have some use after all. Thank you Brady."

"Yeah, fuck you," Brady grunted as he reverted his eyes to normal. "You may have what you want but even you know that there is no way I'm giving up the location."

"You already did," Angela replied with a slight smirk.

* * *

Dean knew he should have been quicker on the draw when he heard the door creak shut. He really should have kept a better eye on Sam and stop him from doing this. If he killed Brady, then they were screwed with this. Now he was stuck in the bathroom and he was trying to get out. He even tried enlisting the help of the puppies. So far Zeppelin and Moira were trying their best and he wondered where the hell Xander was in all this.

He continued to pound the door. Given the state of the house, it was a fairly good bet that he could bust his way out. The problem was that he could hurt himself too especially if Sam wedged a chair under the door handle. He banged his fist on the door one more time.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah all right. Wait, I'm gonna open it," Sam's voice came from the other side.

The door opened to reveal his brother not even bothering to look apologetic for this one. Dean eyed his brother as he walked out, "What happened?"

"Nothing."

"My ass." He had to make sure that the demon was not a rotting corpse in the middle of a room. Given the way Sam had been acting, he was certain something happened.

"Dean, I'm fine."

"Yeah, and what about Brady?"

Dean rounded the corner to find Brady alive and well. He was still in the devil's trap and tied to the chair but otherwise the way they needed him to be if they were going to pull this off. The demon did look a little pained like he had gone a couple of rounds with someone that wasn't Sam. That had him suspicious.

"Like you said," Sam said in a slightly resigned tone, "We need him."

Dean studied the demon. There was something familiar about this scene but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "And where's Angie? You lock her up too?"

Sam made a slight sound at that. He hadn't seen Angela since he left the room. They needed to talk later when this was done and clear the air. He replied, "No. Besides, she's stronger than you and would have busted the door down or made a hole in the wall to get through."

Dean could accept that but he didn't like that she wasn't around for this. She was in on this plan to collect the rings and she was going along with Crowley's idea. There was no way that she would pick up and leave. Unless…

"God, the day, I've had," Crowley's voice entered.

Both Winchesters looked to see Crowley standing there looking like he fell down at a construction site. He was covered in dirt and it looked like there was a rip in the sleeve of his suit. It was enough to have a little sympathy for the devil but they didn't see it that way. It was almost odd not to hear Angela make a quip about the demon finally getting an honest day's work.

Crowley was expecting a comment like that but when it didn't come, he grew concerned. He didn't like that Sam wasn't around when he left and he most definitely didn't like it now that Angela wasn't around. As far as he was concerned, she was supposed to be there to keep errant Winchesters in line since they did listen to her even if they disagreed. Still he had to finish what he started and he would worry about it later.

Entering where Brady was tied up he spoke, "Good news. You're going to live forever."

Brady sneered at Crowley, "What did you do?" He was still feeling drained from whatever Angela did to him earlier so he sounded a little more gruff than usual and it ended up sounding a bit menacing.

Crowley circled his prisoner and replied, "Went over to a demon's nest, had a little massacre." He glanced at the demon and noted how he was looking. Something was definitely up and had him suspicious. He thought about it as he continued, "Must be losing my touch though. Let one of the little toads live. Oops." He gave a slight mocking smile. "Also might have given said toad the impression that you left your post last night because you and I are… wait for it… lovers in league against Satan."

Brady couldn't believe what was happening to him. That toad Crowley said that? He was seriously fucking with the wrong people. He glared up at the demon, not saying anything for the moment. Nothing sounded right or good enough.

"Hello darling," Crowley mocked, enjoying every last moment of this.

Dean and Sam just stood there as Crowley just basically stated that he led the demons to them. It wasn't those exact words but given what beans he spilled, it would just make their jobs harder to do if they were to get to Pestilence. It truly was what they got for working with the devil. He just prayed that something would go right for them for once.

Crowley ignored the peanut gallery that for once wasn't commenting on anything and continued his negotiations, "So now death is off the table. Now you get to be on the boss's eternal torment list with little old me."

"No, no, no," Brady countered while shaking his head. This could _not_ be happening to him. Not when he had shown nothing but loyalty.

"Something else we have in common," Crowley continued while savoring Brady's reaction. It was worth having the hell of a day he had been having. "Apart from our torrid passion, of course. Craven self-preservation. So, now, why don't you tell me where Pestilence is at?" He looked at the demon expectantly while admiring the work he had created.

Brady stared up at Crowley. There was no way he did all that. No way. And there was no way he was going to betray his boss. He was loyal. They would know that. He would know that. He shook his head and opened his mouth to speak when a long and low howl sounded.

If someone wanted to do a movie that involved the clichéd scary sets out in the middle of the woods, the best sound to use that would send shivers down the spine was the howl of a hellhound. It was a sound that all people in that room knew well. Dean felt the chill run up his spine and a flash memory of being torn to shreds by a hellhound entered his mind. He felt his brother tense up and they looked at the puppies as they sat back on their haunches and howled in response.

Crowley kept his expression but his eyes reverted to a window. He heard the little mutts howl in response. He definitely knew that they hellhounds. He could even see the look of horror on Brady's face when the first howl sounded forth. This was definitely not going to be good especially when a second howl sounded and the runts responded.

"Oh, God, Crowley," Brady muttered, the fear evident in his voice.

"Was that a hellhound?" Dean had to ask even though deep down he knew that was what it was.

"Judging by the way the runts are responding… I'd say yeah," Crowley replied as he turned to look at Dean.

"Why was that a hellhound?"

Crowley immediately started searching his person. There was only one way those buggers could find him. He checked his suit and found it in his breast pocket. That was just bloody perfect.

"What's that?"

"Remember my little tracking device? Demons planted one on me." Crowley held up the coin for the Winchesters to see.

Sam looked at Crowley and demanded, "You're saying a hellhound followed you here?"

"Well technically he followed this," Crowley replied holding it up. He then gestured at the puppies that seemed to have grown larger than the last time he saw them. "And those two little buggers just let them know we are here."

"Get me out of here, I'll tell you anything you want," Brady demanded. There was no other choice now. He was dead either way.

"Then we should go," Dean asserted.

"Sorry, no one knows more about the hound than I and my sweetheart. So where is she?"

That was a good question. Dean didn't like the fact that Angela wasn't there and she had more experience with hellhounds. Heck she tamed one that was now an oversized bodyguard for Bobby and sired two half breed pups with a Wilder dog. He didn't have an answer and neither did Sam.

"You're long past the point of go," Crowley said and flicked the coin to Dean. Looks like he was going to have to step up again. She was probably going to kick his ass for what he was about to do but still it would be worth it. _Of all the things I do for you love. You definitely will have to owe me at some point._

Dean caught the coin only to find that Crowley was gone. He growled as Sam laid the I told you so on him, "Damn it." Now they had no choice but to run and to do that, they had to fight their way out of this. "Good for you," he mocked Sam. "Luckily we have salt in the kitchen."

"I'll watch Brady."

"Watch me? Get me the hell out of here!"

That was what they had to do when the first hellhound crashed into the house. Dean was almost caught but managed to grab the shotgun and fire salt rounds off. He killed one but he knew there would be another and another. He was right when one jumped at him but was promptly tackled by Moira. It surprised him since she was the runt of the litter but she was bigger when in attack mode.

 _She'll be a harridan, Dean. The most vicious of her kind._

Moira was snarling and tearing hellhound flesh. Her muzzle was dripping blood when she flung the dead hound aside. She rounded on the other one and was prepared to fight. She growled at her sibling who was standing guard over Brady as Sam was untying him and the pup maintained his guard. She snarled at the hellhound and readied to pounce.

"Hey!"

The distraction from Crowley was what they needed to get Brady undone and it was done when he revealed that he brought his own hellhound and that sucker was huge. Crowley admitted with pride, "Mine's bigger though not as big as the daddy dog." He patted his hellhound's shoulder.

Dean wasn't sure of what to make of this but if they got out of there, he was definitely going to ask Angela questions and one of them was where the hell had been. He moved the moment Crowley shouted, "Sic em boy!"

* * *

 **A/N:** And Brady spills the beans about Angie. There has to be more to it though right? Now the hunt with the hellhounds are on. Stay tuned for next time on Dancing with the Devil...


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The night held a bit of a chill to it and allowed her breath to come out in patches of fog. Angela took a breath as she looked around before heading to the car she had picked to steal. This was probably the worst timing ever but this was a penance of a sort and right now she was being a coward. She didn't want to see the look on Sam's face because she was afraid of what she would find. She had always been told not to pursue things that may have an ending she wouldn't like. She should have listened, but she didn't.

"You really want to do this, princess?"

Angela paused and turned to look at Kesset, "I don't want to do it but I have to, Kess. I have to fix this."

Kesset looked at her with a somber expression. He had come when she called and asked for a ride to the city so she could get a car. It had him suspicious that she was alone, without the Winchesters and especially without her suitor. He knew that things were moving along between them. He didn't need the bond for that. He could only surmise that this was something she felt was necessary and that she was protecting Sam.

Taking a breath, he asked, "What is there to fix?"

"The fact that I didn't do anything to save the one Sam loved," she admitted. She looked down as she managed to get the door unlocked. "I couldn't save her. No matter what I did."

Kesset studied her and her downtrodden face, "And you think, going after Pestilence alone will fix that."

"It isn't anything less than I deserve, and I am not going alone. I have to see someone first," Angela replied allowing a tear to fall. She wiped it away before allowing more to fall. "I know that in order to get to Pestilence, we'll need some defenses."

"So you aren't doing this alone?"

"No, but what I need to do to be ready for that fight… It's not going to be something that they will like." Angela opened the door to the car and got in. She studied the steering wheel and was prepared to work her magic to hotwire the car. "Thanks for bringing me here Kess. You can go now. Go and be with Kate."

Kesset contemplating on obeying. While he was under orders to follow her orders, he did have a certain amount of freedom to interpret them and even disobey if he thought the order to be detrimental to his charge's safety. He stayed and put a hand on the roof of the car. "Why don't I take you to where you need to go?"

Angela looked up and shook her head, "I can't ask you to do that. Not where I need to go." She turned back to working on the wiring.

"Then I won't let you leave."

Angela paused and looked at the Avian. Kesset was not inclined to disobey a direct order if she made it as such but this was a first that he was defying her on all levels. "What?"

"I am not letting you leave princess," Kesset repeated. He adjusted his wings more to ease the tension he was feeling from what he was about to do. "I swore to protect you and not just because your mother asked me to. I do it because… I remember you. I remember when Father brought you to our house." He fished in his pocket and pulled out a small wooden toy and held it out to her.

Angela paused and looked at what was in his hand. She remembered that. She closed her eyes and remembered when Kesset was a boy and she had carved it. She remembered what she said about it and why she was giving it to him. She had been a little rude about it but… She reached out and touched it, "You kept it?"

"Why wouldn't I keep the one thing given to me in kindness from someone not my family?" Kesset looked at her like she was being the strangest thing in the room. "I never once blamed you for the choices my father made. And I know you went there to try and save him. Which is why I don't believe that you say you did nothing for that girl."

Angela touched the wooden toy. It was a carving of a gryphon. She had heard the stories of those creatures, especially from what Gabriel told her and about the Phoenicians when she had been growing up and training. It was something that came to mind and that was what formed in the wood. Then Kesset came along and watched her and they talked and she ended up giving it to him. She sighed, "Kess…"

"All I know is that if you go alone, there will be nothing but pain for Sam and Dean," Kesset interrupted. He was really on a roll with this disobedient thing and he prayed that it wasn't going to kick him in the ass. "When you were under that spell that turned you into a child, you were taken from them by that demon Lenya and she used the rogue line of hunters. Sam and Dean risked everything to get you back. Sam especially. I saw it even though I was a prisoner myself. They freed me yes but their goal was you." He paused a moment before continuing, "So I ask that you don't leave them out of what you are planning. It will only hurt them."

Angela had no recollection except a few choice memories of Lenya whom she had called the scary lady with the white eyes and feeling scared and angry. It was always a revelation when someone told of a memory of that time mostly in the hopes that she would remember but more often than not, it didn't bear that kind of fruit. Yet to hear it from Kesset what he had observed, it had her thinking. She looked down at her dog Xander who was in the passenger seat and looking at her expectantly.

Kesset was right. She may have made things worse by leaving them alone like she did and with Crowley getting his hands dirty. That probably wouldn't have gone over well and if something happened to them… she would never be able to forgive herself for this. It would only prove that she was what Brady said she was. Yet they needed her to do this if they were to stand a chance.

Kesset watched her debate internally what she was going to do. He knew that his words sunk in and he hoped that she would see reason. She was like any other human that could be blinded by her emotions even though she addressed everything else with logic. He pursed his lips and breathed slowly in and out as he held the wooden toy that he had kept. His thumb ran along the grooves he made that was his cartouche.

"Alright, you've made your point Kess," Angela finally said. She looked up at the Avian and got out of the car. "I can't leave them in the dark but I can't ignore this either." She gestured out to the middle of nowhere.

"So what is it you wish to do?"

"Take me to where I need to go and I will talk to them."

To most people, her request sounded like something that was contrary to the point that Kesset was trying to make. The Avian knew though hat she was putting herself in a position to leave no room for argument but also giving the consideration to the people that mattered the most so they knew she was not in trouble. Maybe it was contrary but in his view, he understood the reasoning behind it and if she made it seem like she was doing it, there would be no room to argue and he knew the Winchesters would accept that it was for their plan to work.

"I know it sounds contrary but… I know them and I know Dean," Angela continued with a slight smile as she fondly explained her reasoning, "He thinks he can boss me because he is an older brother though technically I am the oldest of them all but… he is a big brother in many things that I… never had or considered."

"And you wish to let it be known that you are doing it regardless."

"Yes." Angela then looked down and took a breath. Kesset had to know this. "And… it's because I am afraid."

"Afraid?"

"Kess… I have been around a long time. I've seen places and met people. Some became friends and maybe family if you use the normal definition." Angela swallowed slightly since it was one of the few times she confessed to fear and it made her feel vulnerable. "Sometimes a connection in the future comes along and…"

"You think Sam thinks less of you for what happened to his girlfriend because you were there."

"It hurt him Kess," Angela clarified as her featured saddened. "It was a demon that revealed I was there and I didn't deny it."

"But you didn't clarify anything. You know demons will twist the truth to suit their purposes."

"Kess, I never told Sam that just as I never told them until it came up that I knew their parents. That I was the one that told Mary she should leave the life if it was what she wanted. That I was the one that brokered John's deal and that he made me swear to look after them. That I was there the day Jess died and I almost died."

Kesset watched as the tears began to fall. He knew from the stories told that she was a warrior, a warrior princess who boldly stared down evil and fought things that most people would never consider were real. Yet they all forgot that she was a person too. Someone who suffered for the consequences of her actions and tried to make things right despite the fact that she was a creature that had always been considered evil or a monster. It was no wonder that Sam chose her. He looked at her as the tears started leaking through and she was making no effort to wipe them away. It wasn't fair that she felt she had to be alone when it was clear she didn't want to and possibly feared it. He nodded slightly and replied, "And yet you told them your side."

"Yeah and look where that got us."

"Maybe it was rough when they learned about John Winchester but when they learned about you knowing Mary… that was when you went back in time no? What happened?"

"Dean knew first when the angel's sent him back. He saw me talk to her and when I came to stop her from saying yes to Azazel." Angela wiped her tears away even though there were more coming. She sniffed a little. "He merely stated that I was the one that told his mother to follow her heart. You know what I told him? I told him that I loved his mother very much and all I wanted was for her to be happy and that the day she chose to live a normal life, I walked away. I thought that by staying away she would be safe."

"And what did he say?"

"Thank you. He said thank you for keeping her safe."

Kesset figured that Dean would be understanding. While he was the more hot headed at times and impulsive, the man had a good heart. He may not understand her motives for certain things like so readily forgiving for things that were probably unforgiveable but he was also floored by it and her standing by them when they felt ready to crumble… "Because it's true, princess. You did keep her safe. And even though what happened was the result of a deal… you gave him time with his mother and you came to help John Winchester and teach him what he knew."

"Well better me teach him than some damn fool who'd get him killed. And I owed it to Mary," Angela snorted. She gave a watery smile and added, "Thanks Kess. You're more than a guard. You're a friend."

"It is an honor."

Angela couldn't help but chuckle at that. She reached towards his wings but paused to ask a silent question. She was surprised when he brought the wing closest to her really close and moved it enough to rub against her cheek. Her eyes widened in surprise since she was very familiar with Avian displays of intimacy. She looked at him.

"An honor," he repeated with a serious expression. "For a friend."

Angela accepted it and rubbed her hand gently on the feathers and withdrew. It was a big thing for an Avian to let someone other than a mate or family touch his wings and then to initiate a touch like that… She had a good friend in him. "That you are, Kess," she agreed. Sighing she straightened up, "So… can you take me to where I need to go."

"As you command, princess." In the blink of an eye, Kesset had them at the place they needed to go.

* * *

There wasn't much to say. Not after narrowly escaping hellhounds and finally getting the information about Pestilence out of Brady. It was why he allowed Sam to do what he had to do to move past this. That and Dean was at a loss at what to say since one person was missing and not so much as a phone call or a note was left. It was automatic to think worst case scenario and that she left them for good but they both knew better than that but it had Dean suspicious that Sam knew more about it than he cared to show at the moment. It was something that needed to be discussed especially after what Brady told them.

Brady made good on giving them Pestilence's location. Now all they needed to do was to come up with a plan and then execute it. That left one thing to do and Dean did that by boxing in the demon with a salt line after letting Crowley pass through. He left Sam alone with the demon and he could tell the demon knew that his end was near. They made no promises that they would let him live and he was dead anyway since Crowley let it slip that he helped them.

 _You won't win this. Not even with someone who is supposed to be your friend._

That didn't faze Dean in the slightest since there was always someone trying to make his girl seem like the bad guy in the story. What had him uneasy was the way that Brady spoke to Sam before his brother knifed him. He couldn't hear that conversation but when Sam returned to the car… it only fueled his suspicions that there was something going on and it had to do with when Sam decided to lock him in the bathroom.

It was tempting to bring it up but Dean sensed that Sam wasn't in the mood for their kind of conversation that usually ended up with him joking and teasing in a sexual manner about Angela and then Sam getting all pissy over it. Right now though… not a good time. He did try to strike up conversation and asked, "You cleaned the runt off?"

"Yeah. As best as I could. She'll need a bath and I think Zep needs it too."

"Hey, he's not the one that decided to lineback a full grown hellhound."

"No but I did notice blood on his muzzle and Brady had a nasty bite on his leg," Sam replied quietly, not really wanting to be in conversation but was willing more to because he didn't want to think about things. Talking about what Moira did seemed like a good idea.

"Yeah well he knows how to subdue," Dean defended his dog, "Not tear it to shreds."

"He's a tracker," Sam offered, "She's a harridan."

"Do you even know what that means?"

Sam shrugged. He knew sooner or later they were going to have to talk and he wanted to delay his idea to say yes to Lucifer and jump into the cage, at least until they were at Bobby's. And he knew that Dean wanted to talk about the unanswered question that had been on their minds. "No," he replied softly. "Dean…"

At that moment Dean's phone rang. Sam picked it up to look at the caller ID. Seeing who it was, he showed it to Dean and put it on speaker. Dean didn't both with a preamble, "Angie, where the hell are you?"

 _Out in the boonies._

It was simple enough to be funny but it was hardly funny in any sense. Dean could only roll his eyes at that since it was probably the truth but she was being vague about it. "Alright fine. What are you doing?"

 _Hoping to get something that would help when we go get Pestilence._

"Angie," Dean replied looking a little confused. Part of it was because Sam wasn't saying anything. The other part was because he wasn't quite understanding what she was saying with regards to how this was going to help. "What do you mean by that? We already got the location from Brady."

 _I know. I did too._

"You did?" Dean looked at Sam who was frowning but not saying anything. "Then why didn't you say something?" He frowned a little at Sam as if to ask him why he was doing all the talking in this conversation.

 _Because I realized that it's not going to be as easy as we make it sound._

There was some silence as Dean waited to hear more. When he didn't get it, he asked, "Can you elaborate? Not all of us are new agey or seven levels of geek like Sam." He grinned a little but it sobered when he didn't get a response back from her per the usual. "Angie?"

 _Sorry. Um… Do you remember what happened when we got War's and Famine's rings? The effects that happened?_

How could they forget? War had people seeing everyone as demons. Famine had people crave that which they desired, made them rabid for it. Dean remembered. "Yeah?"

 _I'm thinking it will be the same for Pestilence. And it's not going to be a sudden bout of the swine flu._

Finally Sam decided to speak, "So what are you doing?"

 _I went to see someone that might be able to… help me avoid the worst if Pestilence decides to aim the sickness ray at me. If it is possible, I might be able to use that on you two._

Dean heard the sounds in the background and noted how Sam was acting while on the phone. There was something definitely going on and he didn't look forward to being the big brother and getting it out of Sam. With that on his mind, his next words came out a little harsher than he would have liked, "So you're gonna find this thing and then what?"

 _Go get Pestilence._

"Do you even know where he is?" Sam had to ask the question even though he knew the answer before he did.

 _I do._

"And how do you know that?"

 _I made him give it to me. Persuasive interrogation._

It wasn't a complete answer but enough for both brothers to know what she meant by that. And both were immediately concerned since they both knew the effects of that move could have. Dean glanced over at Sam to see what he would do but his brother was strangely silent on the whole matter. It bothered Dean but he stuck to the conversation, "And you're gonna what?"

 _I'm not leaving you behind if that's what you're asking._

It was a nicer way of saying Dean's accusation of her ditching them. Way nicer but it still meant the same thing and it only served to remind them that she knew what their first thoughts were. It made them both shuffle in their seats uncomfortably. Sam recovered first though and asked, "What are you going to do, Angie?"

 _I am going to find out what I need to do first. It will take time. That much I know but… it will be worth it once we go against Pestilence. Trust me._

To Dean, that seemed to wake Sam up a little and watched as Sam nodded, even though she wasn't there. Dean gave a nod himself and said, "Alright. So…"

 _Regroup with Bobby and fill him in. I'll do what I have to do and I'll join you later._

"Seems simple enough," Dean commented more for something to say. It was really quite simple and while he liked simple, he sometimes couldn't help but wait for the other shoe to drop. "Anything else?"

 _Yeah. Don't be rash, Dean. Listen more, to all ideas._

It seemed to be an odd thing to say and the kind of thing she would nag him about. And it was the lesson he was supposed to learn when he lost his hearing. Yet he was struck with the impression that he might hear something that he wasn't going to like. From whom he didn't know but his choices were limited. So the best thing was to humor her. "Alright Angie."

 _Thanks. I knew you could keep an open mind._

Dean shook his head as he smirked at her response. He heard the playful tone in her voice directed at him. She always liked teasing him at times like this even after he treated her horribly. "Glad you think so highly of me."

 _When have I not?_

"Alright. Take care of yourself Angie. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Dean grinned a little at that since when he usually said something like that he implied something of a sexual nature. He usually did that to try and get her to blush but usually she turned the tables on him.

 _Like what I'm doing remotely goes where your brain goes… which is downstairs for you._

"Aw do you have to do that?"

Sam was silently chuckling. He was glad she was okay for the most part. At least her humor wasn't forced with Dean. He didn't fail to notice that she never addressed him directly and if she did it was to answer a question and he heard the caution in her tone. She even hesitated slightly before answering his question. He knew they had to talk about what happened. He got the feeling that her sudden departure was because of that. She probably thought to take care of this on her own in some sort of bid for penance driven by self-loathing.

 _Always Dean. You're fun to play with._

"Yeah, you too."

 _Oh and Sam… I'll be back. Always._

Sam paused slightly and then replied, "Always… and forever."

There was a click to indicate that she hung up. Sam closed the phone and put it down and leaned against his window in thought. He knew she wasn't going to do anything too rash but he couldn't help but worry about what she was going to do. He'd be damned if something happened to her because of him.

"Hey, don't look so glum," Dean said.

"I'm not."

"It's a first." Dean looked ahead to keep his eyes on the road. He wanted to ask Sam what was up with him but decided against it.

"Brady said some things about Angie. And it wasn't in a good light."

Dean glanced at Sam. He took the opportunity since Sam was being open about it. "What about?"

* * *

 **A/N:** Looks like Angie wants to fix things but Kess convinces her to slow down and Sam and Dean head back to Bobby's to make a plan. Stay tuned for next time on Dancing with the Devil...


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Time could be considered a precious commodity. People lived their lives by time. Time was money. The amount of time you put in determined your pay. And some people think they have all the time in the world to do the things they want to do. It never ends up that way. It was a universal constant that time was taken for granted. Another commodity that was often in short supply was patience. And Dean had very little of it.

After Sam told him about the things Brady implied about Angela, her actions started to make a lot more sense. But she kept her word and didn't do anything foolish, just been out of contact the past couple of days while she was doing what she was going to do. It drove Bobby into overtime crankiness and he demanded from him and Sam how they could let her do that though no one really let or made Angela do whatever she chose to do. Sam wasn't too much of help since he seemed to be thoughtful and brooding half the time and Dean ended up reminding the cantankerous elder hunter that it was Angela. Then came the bombshell.

Sam was deliberate about things. Dean knew this well. His little brother was the kind of person to think about things to death in order to decide how he wanted to reveal what he wanted to and how he wanted to say it without it coming off as anything but what he wanted. Angela was the same way when she tried to talk them out of doing the stupid thing or resolving a petty argument that could escalate into a prank war. She was diplomatic. Sam was all about dropping bombshells and he certainly did when he brought up the idea to say yes to the devil and then jump into the cage once it was open.

One thing Dean could be grateful for was that Sam at least waited until he had one cup of coffee. Not that it made things better in any sense but it made him feel better. Still hearing it… Dean couldn't help it, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Dean."

"No, don't 'Dean' me. I mean… You've had some stupid ideas in the past but this…" Dean walked into Bobby's study trying hard not to punch his brother in the face for this one. He turned to see Bobby looking at him and adjusting his wheelchair and rounded on him, "Did you know about this?"

"What?"

"About Sam's genius plan to say yes to the devil," Dean replied putting the entire issue in a nutshell.

Bobby had been ignoring the arguing in his kitchen as he studied the omens that were going on across the country and the world. It was something of a norm when it came to Sam and Dean and half the time, he expected Angela to take care of it. It was hard when she wasn't there or in her usual size to do it. It made him miss the times when she was too little to understand what it meant by the end of the world stuff. The house seemed much quieter and the boys… they seemed happier.

Now he was sitting and looking at Dean ranting and raving about what Sam had suggested before over the phone. He had gotten his ranting and raving out but after a time… a lot of what was said made sense. Still… with a resigned sigh, he nodded that he knew about it.

"Well, thanks for the heads up," Dean shouted, not believing what was going on or happened while he was reluctantly holding hands with Crowley.

"Hey, this ain't about me," Bobby countered, not willing or aiming to step into this argument.

Dean whirled back to face Sam and warned, "You can't do this."

Sam leaned against the counter. He knew that Dean would shoot this one down no matter what. He was going to do what he said and won't do it if everyone didn't agree. He shrugged his shoulders, "That's the consensus."

"All right then. Awesome. End of discussion," Dean announced with finality in his tone. They could abandon this stupid idea and come up with something else. There was no way he was serving up his brother on a silver platter to the devil.

"Just… be aware that it was either me… or Angie," Sam added. When he got Dean's look he explained, "Lucifer needs a vessel and… Angie thinks she can do it and wants to do it."

"Well I hope you told her no way."

"I did. And that it would be me," Sam admitted. He omitted the fact that it was Angela that suggested it in the first place. He was not going to let this fall on her.

Bobby watched as the scene unfolded and asked, "You do realize what you set yourself up for don't you?"

Sam would have said something but his phone rang. He pulled it out and checked who it was. Frowning, he answered, "Kess?"

 _Sam?_

"What do you need? Something wrong?" Sam looked at his brother who was looking like he wanted to continue the discussion but was being quiet since Kesset was on the line.

 _Nothing is wrong, Sam. I am just reporting on the princess. She needs a little more time._

"How little is it?" Dean couldn't help but be snarky in his response since he was certain that Angela dictated to the Avian on what to say.

 _She did not say but she is almost there in achieving her goal. She wanted to let you know and asked me to tell you._

"Any reason why she couldn't come to the phone herself?"

Sam scowled at his brother for asking that. Inwardly he was quaking at the thought that she had Kesset call him because she was afraid to talk to him. It had him wonder if he said or did anything the last time they spoke to hurt her feelings. The idea that he hurt her again panged him and he wanted to know so he could make this right.

 _It is a grueling process, Dean. She only had a few moments to stop and I knew she wanted to talk to you both. And I think she wanted you to know that she doesn't think that saying yes would be a bad thing._

"Are you saying that Angie agrees with Sam saying yes?"

 _I think she meant her saying yes but perhaps she also meant that as well._

Dean rolled his eyes slightly at that, "Great."

"Dean…" Sam looked at his brother with a look before he spoke into the phone, "Kess… it's an idea. That's all. Thanks for letting us know."

 _She misses you._

Sam made a slight face at that as he hung up. There was nothing more to say about that. Now it was out that Angela did have that in mind and from what Kesset said, she was in agreement to go ahead with it. There was nothing else to say or do at the moment since… At least he made it clear to her that she wasn't going to be the one who said yes. He looked at Dean and Bobby and said, "That was then. She'll stand by whatever we all decide to do."

Dean looked at Sam, not sure of what to say. This was one seriously messed up thing they had going. He wouldn't call it being sneaky on Angela's end. She was doing what she always did and considered her options. He pulled a slight face as he remembered what she had said in their phone conversation awhile back. He definitely sucked at reading between the lines with her and the roundabout way she put things. She knew Sam would tell him and she was warning him ahead of time.

Another phone rang and it turned out to be Dean's. He answered it after saying to Sam that the discussion wasn't over, "Hello?"

 _Dean?_

"Cas? We thought you were dead," Dean replied in surprise.

 _I am not and if you had paid attention to the Malachi, you would have known._

Dean rolled his eyes slightly at the name Castiel insisted upon calling Angela but then realized that he had done it on purpose. It never did occur to them to ask Angela if she sensed anything wrong with Castiel. They just assumed and she never said anything. "Alright but where the hell are you?"

 _A hospital._

"Are you okay?"

 _No._

There was silence as Dean waited. When none came he asked, "Do you want to elaborate?"

 _I just woke up here. The doctors were fairly surprised. They thought I was brain dead._

"So a hospital?" It sounded like a bad joke since angels didn't really get laid up in a hospital. It was all too weird with the timing of everything and it had Dean making a slight face at it.

 _Apparently after Van Nuys I suddenly appeared bloody and unconscious on a shrimping boat off Delacroix. Told it upset the sailors._

As absurd as the timing of this was and with Kesset's phone call, it was a relief that there was one more person Dean could count on in the arsenal. And he needed Castiel's advice on a few things that involved recent events. "Well, I gotta tell you, man. You're just in time. We figured out a way to pop Satan's box."

 _How?_

"It's a long story but… Look we're going after Pestilence now. So if you wanna zap over here…"

 _I can't zap anywhere._

"What do you mean?"

 _You could say my batteries are drained._

That didn't sound good and Dean asked, "What? You're saying you're out of angel mojo?"

 _I'm saying that I am thirsty and my head aches. I have a bug bite that itches no matter how much I scratch. I'm saying that I'm incredibly…_

Dean knew what that meant. It was like déjà vu when he was thrown forward in time to convince him to say yes. It had him wondering if Angela knew that and that was why she refrained from saying anything. "Human. Wow. Sorry."

 _Well, my point is, I can't go anywhere without money for an airplane ride. And food. More pain medication, ideally._

It sounded really weird to hear that coming from Castiel, an angel and they didn't need to worry about sleep or food. It was only a signifier of how things really escalated to where they were now. Dean replied, "All right. Well look, no worries. Bobby's here. He'll wire you the cash."

"I will?" Bobby didn't like being volunteered for things but it seemed that everyone was doing it lately.

 _Dean, wait. You said no to Michael. I owe you an apology and…_

"Cas…"

 _You are not the burnt and broken shell of a man I believed you to be._

There wasn't much to say since it was Castiel and to hear anything like that was… it was genuine. So Dean did what he could do and said, "Thank you."

 _You're what she always believed in. You and Sam both and I couldn't see it._

Dean would have responded to that but the click of the line told him that it was disconnected. It seemed that there was a lot of soul searching going on and a lot of talking but it seemed now that they had to get back to work. He put his phone away and looked at Sam and Bobby. They had the team together… sort of. Now it was time to get to Pestilence.

It was a couple hours later with the Impala packed up and ready to go Sam and Dean got in. It felt weird that Angela wasn't in the back seat and no dogs. They decided to leave the pups behind since they had no idea what would go down. They got lucky with Famine and they weren't going to take chances with them even though they were sitting next to Bobby and begging to come along. It took Sam to get them to stay with a firm look and they sat with their sire.

"Be careful," Bobby said as Dean started the car.

Both Winchesters looked at the grizzled hunter and gave a nod. They would do what they could. Dean put the car into gear and took off while Sam pulled out his phone to leave Angela a voicemail that they were heading out to where Pestilence was. He hoped that she wouldn't jump the gun on this one.

It seemed like an odd place for Pestilence to be holed up in. Yet the Serenity Valley Convalescent Home was where the evil lair of the horseman was. Both Winchesters used their binoculars to scope out the place, looking for any sign that it was what they were looking for. It couldn't be wrong since Brady gave it to them and he had no reason to lie since he was a dead demon both figuratively and literally in that sense thanks to Sam. Still there was a slight nagging doubt that it was the place.

"It's kind of more depressing than evil," Sam commented after Dean made his observations of the place.

"It's like a four color brochure for dying young," Dean agreed. "Of course to Pestilence, it's probably Dollywood in there."

Sam looked at the place. Dean was right on that level. The whole place was like a feeding ground heaven for whatever Pestilence was planning. "Great. Whole building full of people. We don't know who's human, who's demon and who's Pestilence."

"Yeah Angie's sniffer would come in handy right about now," Dean agreed, "Or Zep's nose. At least he would be able to find all the demons."

"And we agreed to leave them behind because of what Angie implied and we don't know what Pestilence could do to them," Sam countered though he wished the dogs were there as well. Ever since their night with Brady and the hellhounds, they had gotten bigger and hadn't reduced in size even in a relaxed state. They were on their way to becoming the hunters they were bred to be. "But they are hunters. It's their job."

That was true but Dean was partial to his dog and they were not just working partners but buddies. Zeppelin was the only dog apart from Cerebus that he truly liked. Maybe they should have waited for Angela but even he knew that she would have insisted they go on ahead and she would catch up. She always put the mission first once she was in that mode.

"So what do we do?" Sam asked the question as he looked at the building also wishing that they had Angela or one of the dogs there.

Dean found their way in and how to look for what they needed when he spotted the security camera. He grinned slightly as he laid down his plan with Sam before the two got out of the car and walked into the home. All they had to do was play the part and use the 'I am looking for my grandma' card and pretend they were lost in the building. It usually worked.

It was a little unexpected when the guard told him to go around the front and ask the nurse but Dean kept at it. He was well aware that Angela probably would have done better and not been so painfully obvious about it. In the end, he got close enough to knock the guard out and banged on the door to signal Sam to come in.

"Eunice Kennedy?"

"That's the beauty about improve, Sammy. You never know what's gonna come out of your mouth."

Sam couldn't help but make a slight scoffing sound at that. Their way of improve got them by but they both knew the master was Angela as rightfully it should be having the centuries of practice. He also suspected it was how she was raised when she was a little girl that influenced that since she was taught to behave a certain way and he was certain that it involved that noble superficial politeness.

Both Winchesters settled down to watch the feed. It was going to take some time until they found something to go on. Sam was prepared to wait having the greater amount of patience than his brother Dean. This was made evident when Sam found Dean asleep and nudged him awake before turning back to look at the screen. He had no idea what they were looking for until he noticed something that had him look twice.

The screen was showing static as the guy on the screen walked. It was only confined to the head but it was enough for Sam to pay attention and he called Dean to take a look. They watched as the guy moved through the building to make sure that it wasn't a fluke or anything like that. After seeing it pass through the monitors with consistency, they knew what they had. They had Pestilence in their sights. Now it was time to make their move.

They pulled out the guns and made their way through the halls while avoiding the staff. They couldn't afford to get caught and they doubted that any story they told could get them out of this one unless someone zapped them out. After a few close calls, they made their way down the hall and past an open door with a nurse inside. Little did they know that it wasn't just any nurse that caught wind of them.

They searched the halls until it was like they hit a sudden wave and started coughing. Neither brother felt very well but hot and feverish. Dean felt his vision start to blur and he felt dizzy but he managed to stay on his feet. He checked to see if Sam was on his feet and held out his arm to maintain his balance and inched his way forward with Sam in tow.

Sam felt awful as his body worked to expel whatever bug was in him. He felt like he was hacking up a lung. The last time he was sick, he buried himself in a mound of blankets and didn't come out until he was somewhat better. This was tem times worse and he knew now amount of burrowing in blankets was going to do anything. He leaned against the wall slightly to maintain his balance as he followed Dean down the hall. He tried not to retch when he saw the dead doctor and nurse on the ground with blood and some sort of vomit that made him want to hurl. He gave a cough and blinked at the blood on his hand. Great. "Must be getting close."

"You think?"

Sam looked over to see his brother sweaty and hunched over, looking like he was going to collapse. He went over and grabbed Dean and helped him up even though he was sweating like a pig and not doing so well himself. And both their vision was blurry and he felt dizzy. Still he managed to get Dean to move a little more down the hall until he collapsed coughing.

Sam knew that this wasn't going to end until he had Pestilence's ring. Making sure that his brother was okay, he gripped the knife and looked at the door. He blinked to clear his vision and tottered on his feet. Forcing himself to stay upright, he moved to get the door when it suddenly opened to reveal a nurse and not just any nurse but a demon on.

"The doctor will see you now."

Sam struggled to stay upright when he saw Pestilence in the background ready to go. Dean was already passed out but he could do this. He now got why Angela went to find help. Now he wished her to stay away from this as the fever took over and he couldn't hold himself up anymore and collapsed. The last thing he heard was Pestilence asking him and Dean to come in.

Sam came too when he heard Dean cough near him and it sounded like he was in his ear. He slowly lifted his head up to look at Pestilence sitting on the edge of a dead woman's bed. He twitched his fingers slightly.

"Mmm. You boys don't look well," Pestilence said from his place of observation. "It might be the scarlet fever. Or the meningitis. Oh ha… or the syphilis."

No wonder Sam felt worse than shit and he could feel the coppery tang in his mouth. Dean was feeling the same way as he tried to get into position to get up. He coughed and it felt like his whole body was giving out. And his head was pounding.

Pestilence looked down at them. "That's no fun." He then reached down and grabbed Sam by his hair to make him look up, "However you feel right now… it's gonna get so much worse and I'm disappointed that you didn't bring her with you. I wanted to see what she could do after what she did with my brothers."

Sam couldn't do much except stare up at Pestilence. A part of him wanted to retort or do anything because of the mere mention of Angela. Now he fervently hoped that she would stay away even though he knew that would be futile. She was probably on her way there. It was such a good plan to leave without her… yeah right.

Pestilence looked at the Winchesters and walked over to the hand sanitizer pump. "Disease gets such a bad rap don't you think? For being filthy. Chaotic. But really that describes the people who get sick." He looked down at them admiring his handiwork. "Disease itself… very… pure. Single minded. Bacteria have one purpose: divide and conquer." He slowly stepped on Dean's outstretched hand as he finished, "That's why it always wins." He relished in hearing Dean groan in pain and kicked the knife away.

It was a one sided conversation but Pestilence didn't mind. It wasn't like there was anyone left to save them. "So you've got to wonder why God pours all his love into something messy! And weak!"

Now the fun was about to being. Pestilence put his glasses on and spoke of how he was going to prove God wrong one epidemic at a time. It was at that moment the door burst open and in walked Castiel looking okay for someone who was now completely human.

"Cas…" Dean called out weakly.

"How did you get here?" Pestilence was surprised to see the angel.

"I took a bus," Castiel explained. He started forward only to be struck down by whatever Pestilence cooked up and ended up coughing blood.

Pestilence kneeled to take a look. "An occupied vessel but no power," he grinned as he said it in fascination. There's not a speck of angel in you is there?"

It was then that Pestilence felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to find someone he didn't expected to see standing there but had the feeling she would show up. "Oh…" He was unprepared for the punch that came his way.

* * *

 **A/N:** So they are going to get Pestilence but looks like Angie has a few ideas that she is looking into and the boys rush in. Oh what a surprise though. Stay tuned for more Dancing with the Devil...


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Angela was used to deadlines and was also used to expecting obstacles that would force her to work up until the last moment. She knew that she was expecting the near impossible when she went to see the old woman about how to better adapt her healer abilities. Yet, she held out optimism that she could do it before they went after Pestilence. That didn't happen though.

She had barely finished when Kesset told her that Bobby called and told him what Sam and Dean had decided. First blush was to curse them for leaving early and called it idiotic and stupid. The second response was to ask Kesset to get her as close as he could. She would take it from there and do whatever she had to do.

Kesset was good on his word and dropped her and Xander near the convalescent home. From there, she went alone and into the building. She didn't want Kesset or her dog being affected. And she could smell the stench of death on an unnatural scale. He was there and more than likely doing his utmost to torment Sam and Dean. Now was the time to use what she had painstakingly learned.

She met up with Castiel and tried to talk him out of going since he was now human. She didn't need him to tell her that. She could smell it. He refused and they walked in together. Rather Castiel created the diversion while she used her abilities to get in. She knew that no one would notice since they clearly had given up expecting her. She ended up behind Pestilence and tapped him on the back, making herself visible.

Pestilence looked at her and was about to say something when she gave him a hard punch. It allowed her to send his demon toady flying into the wall allowing her to focus on him. She stared at him and said, "I heard you were looking for me."

Pestilence grinned and turned on his ring while saying, "And I'm glad you came. Now I get to take what you did to my brothers out of your ass as well."

Angela felt the twinges of sickness permeate her body but focused as she had been taught and struggled against the devastating effects, standing straight up. She gritted her teeth and took a gritted breath once she managed to stay upright. Her eyes narrowed at Pestilence.

"Impossible," Pestilence replied, shocked at what he was seeing and decided to give something a little stronger. Again it was the same result but it was clear that she still had his cocktail running through her system. He could see the flushing of her skin. Then it dawned on him and he smiled at that. "So you learned how to do it. You learned how to repel sickness, the technique used by the most experienced of healers to avoid being stricken down by the plagues that had been unleashed. But you… are not experienced."

Angela took a couple of panting breaths as she took a step forward to meet Pestilence. She sniffled a bit even though there was some blood coming out of her nose. "I figured you'd try this. So I… came prepared." She lifted her arms to reveal the glowing tattoos.

Pestilence was impressed and clicked his tongue, "But you are not experienced. My little cocktail is alive inside of you and killing you slowly. You have not repelled it but slowed it down." He got close and looked down at her. "Still weak."

Angela chuckled at that. It was a feverish chuckle but at least she was still on her feet. "At least I'm still standing."

"And what do you intend to do?" Pestilence gestured at the Winchesters. "They are down." He then pointed at Castiel. "The angel has no juice." He then turned to look at her and asked, "What do think you can accomplish in your state?"

Angela was still chuckling and it turned into a near hysterical giggle. She was sporting a fever and she was certain that there was something ravaging her spleen or intestines. She couldn't decide what but she was determined to finish this. She patted Pestilence on the shoulder like a drunk would and said, "Well… I was thinking more of… this."

She grabbed Pestilence and wrestled him around to face Castiel. The humanized angel had managed to grab the knife and brought it down on the imprisoned fingers. "Maybe, just a speck," he muttered as he severed the finger with the ring on it.

Angela was still laughing a little even as the demon came to and charged at Castiel. She pulled her knife and threw it. It was not as accurate as it would have been if she wasn't under three or maybe four diseases but it was accurate enough to lodge in the chest, in the heart and kill the black eyed bitch dead. She straightened up like a drunk that realized he had made an impossible shot and decided to brag about it.

At that same moment, whatever had been coursing through them had disappeared. Angela turned to look at Pestilence while Dean scrambled to get the ring. She couldn't help but say, "Was that what you wanted?"

Pestilence smiled at her as he held his bleeding fingers, "It doesn't matter. It's too late and not even your new tricks will be able to stop it."

"That's where you're wrong," Angela replied with a look that bordered on pensive and sad. "There is always a chance."

Pestilence scoffed at that as he looked at her. "Always trying to be the hero now. You know how this will end. Like I said, not even your new tricks can help you."

Pestilence was gone before anyone could say anything leaving an empty room and two dead bodies. It did allow everyone to take deep breaths and sigh. It was only then that Angela looked down at her palms and to the tattoos on the underside of them. She rotated her wrists as the glowing died down and hummed, "I guess I still need practice."

"Perfect timing Cas… Angie," Dean said as he sighed and panted in relief. The agony he had been feeling was gone. He looked at the ring in his hand and then at Angela. "So I guess an 'I told you so' is in order?"

Angela shook her head slightly, "Nope. It worked out in the end and I'm not complaining." She walked over to where the dead demon was and pulled her knife out. She shook the blood off and looked down at it. "I expected him to hit hard."

If the tone of her voice was unnerving, neither Winchester voiced it but each reacted to it in their own way. Dean for his part was glad that he wasn't going to get a tongue lashing for this one or even a smack to the back of the head. Sam though, was concerned. She didn't really look at him but maybe spared the tiniest glance in his direction before grabbing her knife. They definitely needed to talk and try not to start a fight. That was the last thing they needed.

"Well whatever it was… came in handy," Dean replied appreciative.

"Not bad for learning something new in a day," Angela replied with a grin. She gave a pat to Dean's shoulder like it was a joke.

"Not bad at all," Dean agreed. He held up the ring. "Honors?"

Angela looked at Pestilence's ring and took it from Dean's fingers. She held it up and looked at it before she put it in the pocket in her pants since she was still wearing what she had worn from Karnak. "One step closer," she said with an encouraging smile as she led the way out. She paused by Sam just long enough to give him a very gentle pat. "Come on. Kess is probably worried out of his mind and I don't want to get him any more worried."

They found Kesset waiting where she had left him and he wasn't worried like she made it out to be. Rather he was standing like he was on duty as a guard with Xander sitting there waiting. The pup stood up and wagged his tail the moment he saw them. Kesset merely expressed his relief that things went well before taking his leave.

"Well that was brief," Dean muttered as he walked around to the driver's side and got in.

Sam waited until Castiel got in before grabbing her by the wrist, gently but firmly and looked at her. There was a lot he wanted to say but he knew that now wasn't the time nor the place. And he wanted to know what she was thinking and feeling. That would tell him what he needed to do to let her know that she was important to him.

Angela knew that she was being unfair to Sam with the actions she had taken lately. But it was as she admitted: she was a coward plain and simple when it came to knowing what Sam truly thought. She looked at Sam, wanting to explain but afraid of how he would respond. Finally she adjusted her hand to release his hand and took it in hers. She then leaned forward and gave him a kiss on his cheek before getting in next to Castiel after letting Xander into the backseat.

Sam reluctantly let it go for now. At least there was some foot to stand on with her. It really was like the universe was trying to screw him over when he took another step with her. It really wasn't fair. It wasn't fair to her. Him… deserved whatever came his way but Angela… she deserved better for everything that she had done and was still doing by choosing to stand by him. He got in and glanced at Dean before looking ahead.

* * *

"What the bloody hell is with you slapping me?"

Angela glared at Crowley as he held his cheek looking shocked that she slapped him rather than slugging him with a right hook. "Because you aren't worthy of a fist in the mouth. Now do what Dean said and give Bobby his soul back," she replied in a low and firm tone.

They had made it back to Sioux Falls in a somber tone. Sure they had managed to get Pestilence's ring but the things he said about them being too late… She had a good idea of what it was based on what she had pulled from Brady but at the time she was more focused on where the horseman was so it was a little fuzzy. Plus she had been angry and hurt and a bunch of other things that didn't help the situation at all. Still the threat hung heavy.

Bobby had tried to bring in some good news but it was equally depressing. They had a lead on where Death was going to be but it was going to be accompanied by a shit storm of omens that would end in natural disasters and death of over a million people. Good news but it was not the kind to get excited over. And it certainly didn't help that Crowley showed up and implied that he didn't help much and then egged Bobby to tell the truth.

It was why she was standing there and glaring at the demon that was looking at her in shock. Bobby had signed his soul over to the demon, or rather pawned as Crowley put it. It didn't make the situation any better and it caused her to just slap the demon and hard. She raised her hand to slap him again and demanded, "Give it back."

"I do fully intend to give it back…" Crowley raised his hand to stop her since she was intent on slapping him again. "Ah just… not at the moment." He took a step back since she started advancing on him and it looked like she was going to skip the punching and get right on skinning.

"Then give it back," Dean demanded to make the point.

"I will," Crowley replied as he kept an eye on Angela.

"Now!"

It would have continued and Angela probably would have beaten it out of Crowley and forced it from him with the tricks he taught her if Sam hadn't interrupted with, "Did you kiss him?"

It was enough to stop Angela and look at Bobby while Dean exclaimed, "Sam!"

"Just wondering," Sam explained. He really was curious since he was well aware that deals were sealed with a kiss. Well most deals were, as he recalled how Lilith wanted to seal the deal she had tried to deal him.

The curiosity was enough to have Angela drop her hand as she looked at Bobby along with Sam and Dean. She knew he probably did kiss the demon since that was the thing to sealing the deal except for the more lucrative deals. Still she was ready to give Crowley an ass kicking once she had her answer. She was just not in the mood.

"No!" Bobby looked as his three idjits as he hotly denied _that_ part.

Angela wasn't inclined to believe the grizzled hunter since she noticed the way he answered. Having performed interrogation numerous times before, she was very familiar with the ways in how people would insist upon the truth when in fact it wasn't. She raised her brow at Bobby as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Her suspicions were verified when Crowley cleared his throat and showed his cell phone. She turned and peered at the image on the screen along with Sam and Dean. She shifted to look at Bobby and blinked. She saw the expression on the grizzled hunter's face. That and the visual confirmation…

"Why'd you take a picture?"

"Why do you have to use tongue?"

Angela blinked at that and looked at Bobby the same time Sam and Dean turned to look at the elder hunter. It was bad enough he had to kiss Crowley but that? She knew that while demons did lie, she got the feeling that Crowley liked the feeling of tormenting them with things like that and wouldn't lie about it. She couldn't really find any words to say about that since it was a deal that was made and sealed.

"All right. You know what? I'm sick of this," Dean interrupted Angela's thoughts as he stood up to look at the demon. He moved to stand in front of her to keep her from doing anything that he felt like doing to the demon. "Give him his soul back now."

"I'm sorry. I can't." Crowley knew he was setting himself up for more likely another slap but he would settle for anything that involved physical pain from Angela. He noticed her shift slightly but because Dean was in front of her, he was somewhat safe for the moment.

"Can't or won't?" Dean glared at Crowley as he demanded an answer. He was ready to move aside and let Angela have her way with the demon if the answer proved unsatisfactory.

Crowley looked at the pair of hunters glaring at him. One was getting the edge to kill him and more likely would succeed if she really wanted to. But that was only after she did the things that he didn't want to contemplate. He had heard the stories about her and while he was intrigued, he was also worried. He valued his skin quite a bit and he knew that anymore toying would not put the odds in his favor. "I won't, all right? It's insurance."

"What are you talking about?"

"You kill demons," Crowley spelled it out to Dean. He gestured towards Sam, "Gigantor over there has a temper issue about it and…" He looked at Angela and paused. "And sweetheart here… Let's just say that I've heard the stories. Demon named Oren had a lot to say."

Angela pursed her lips. Some names stuck with her and others she didn't pay any mind until her memory was jogged. Usually it had to do with the demons and back in the day when she tortured and then killed, she really didn't pay any mind except for the few that lived. "I'm sure he did considering that he really doesn't have any vocal cords in his meat suit that he can't escape."

"Well he did learn a new way of talking," Crowley admitted. He knew she would remember that one. "Anyway, you or the Hardy boys there won't kill me as long as I have that soul in the deposit box."

"You son of a bitch," Bobby groused.

Crowley looked at the room full of hunters and one de-winged angel. He knew he had the upper hand here and they knew it to. He stood there with his hands in his coat pockets and soaked in the moment. Then he said, "I'll return it. After all this is over, and I can walk safely away. Do we all understand each other?"

It was unexpected when Angela rushed Crowley and pinned him with her own hands against the wall and lifted him. Her eyes were glowing and it was evident that her tattoos were glowing meaning that she was going to do something that would probably end up with Crowley driven deep into hell or completely destroyed. She held the demon up and glared at him and growled in a tone that had Sam inwardly shiver, "We understand each other. Now you give that soul back or I will take it back."

"And how is that love?" Crowley knew he was tempting wrath. "You think I didn't consider the fact you would try something like this? I taught you how to take a deal!"

"And I still can. And you have my word that you will walk away," Angela offered. She knew that it would be a fight on her hands with regards to actually taking the deal away from Crowley. She couldn't deny he was the one that taught her and she sought him out and it was all to save Dean from hell. "My word is my bond and you don't even have to kiss for it."

"That bargain was for me teaching you," Crowley countered. He knew she would keep her word that she would let him walk away but he knew she could loosely interpret her own words. She would claim that she said nothing about the Winchesters letting him walk away. "No bargain for this. I know you."

"You think you know me."

"Oh I do. I know that you may give your word about letting me walk away but you said nothing about them over there." Crowley narrowed his eyes at her and added, "And you owe me a favor."

Angela narrowed her eyes at the demon. "I owe you nothing."

"You don't remember that quiet little hermitage in the woods?"

Angela pursed her lips as she stared at Crowley. "Give Bobby back his soul." She spoke in a demanding tone even though she was fast losing ground. "And you will have my word that neither myself nor the Winchesters will pursue the matter."

It was a tempting offer to Crowley but he still had the upper hand. "No. I prefer you to owe me. And it's not like you'd do anything to harm dear Bobby there would you." He gave a smirk and twitch of his eyes to indicate he wasn't messing around. "You have nothing to bargain with sweetheart, at least none you are willing to part with and if you try to take by force it will end up being nothing what you wanted. You know that which is why you cling to this pathetic attempt at intimidation. Now that's not really the Malachi of Absolution now is it? You have changed and it isn't for the better. Remember what I told you the last time."

Angela kept the angry glare as Crowley punched the holes in her tactics. He was right. Even Castiel knew decades ago she wouldn't have given another thought and just went in hands swinging and did whatever it took. Slowly she released the demon and lowered him to the ground. "This isn't over. There will come a time when I will end you." She turned and walked away to go pace outside and try to figure something else out.

"Look forward to that love. Maybe you'll grow some teeth in the meantime."

No one expected it when Crowley was flung into the wall by her powers and she threw one of Bobby's kitchen knives at him. She knew it wouldn't kill him but she got the knife close enough to make a tear in his suit. The knife buried itself in the wall and would leave a mark but it wasn't like she wouldn't fix it. She repaired the front windows by herself. She looked at Crowley and replied, "Next time I won't miss and it won't be a steak knife." She then then left through the kitchen door leaving the room in a stunned silence. She was more upset that Crowley saw right through her and at that point she didn't care that they heard implications of past dealings. They knew what she was about.

Sam looked at everyone else before following her. He paused only long enough to yank the knife out of the wall, surprised that it was fairly deep in there and tossed it onto the counter. He heard Castiel mutter to Crowley that he shouldn't have upset the Malachi. The angel was right on that account but it wasn't like her to give up so easily. There was something more going on and he hoped that she would talk to him and they could clear the tension between them.

He found her throwing knives at the wall of the shed that was hers. She was throwing fast with precision and accuracy and there was no doubt that she would have killed the fugly if it were real. Not wanting to disturb her and end up getting the wrong side of a blade, though he trusted her not to do that, he walked to where Moira and Xander were lounging and watching. He waited until she had thrown the last one and it buried itself deep into the wood to say, "I think you got him."

Angela turned and was prepared to snap if it was Dean but seeing that it was Sam, she changed course and huffed a little. "Not even close," she replied in a defeated tone. She walked to the embedded knives and began to pull them out and inspect them, dropping them on the ground when she was done.

"I don't know but you seemed to make a point with Crowley," Sam offered and took the chance to get closer. When she remained silent he sighed and said, "No one blames you Angie."

"Not the case, Sam, but appreciated," Angela replied as she tossed the last of the knives on the ground with a clang. She then slumped against the wall and slid to the ground, resting a forearm on her knee. "Just…"

Sam hesitated slightly but then moved to sit beside her. "Then what?"

"He's right. I have changed and maybe not for the better." Angela drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees. "And he has me by the balls. We had a bargain…"

"The whole thing about teaching you how to make and break deals," Sam clarified.

"That is done," Angela corrected. She sighed as she thought about how to say the next part. "What he was talking about was what I did to get where I was to stand up to Pestilence. I needed help in some part and he stepped in. It wasn't an official deal but a favor and now it's biting me in the ass."

Sam watched as she buried her face. He didn't want her to cry but he would let her. Yet he didn't hear the sounds of sobbing or tears. More like cursing of herself. Then she muttered clearly, "I am sorry, Sam."

"Sorry for what?"

"For not saving Jess."

Sam hadn't expected that to come up and he certainly didn't believe that she would stand by and do nothing. She was a fighter. Even if it seemed that she had given up, she still fought; there was always a trick up her sleeve. "Angie…"

Angela knew it was now or never. She was making mistakes and if she wanted to finish this and get the last ring, she was going to have to get it out and then… Sam would have to think about it. She took a breath and lifted her head and rested it on her knees. "Brady was right. I was there the night Jess died and I did nothing to stop it."

"I don't believe that," Sam countered, surprised that she would actually agree with a demon, but he was not going to take it at that. There had to be more. "You wouldn't do that."

"Might as well."

It sounded so defeated that Sam knew that there was more to it. And he had to know. "What… what did happen?"

Angela heard Sam's question and turned to look at him. He really wanted to know and while it was a relief… it also terrified her. She swallowed slightly and began, "It was as Brady said. She was baking cookies and I dropped by. Mostly to go over her tutoring schedule…"

* * *

 **A/N:** They finally got Pestilence's ring and Crowley gets slapped. Then it comes out, the truth about Jess. More to come on Dancing with the Devil...


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Let me guess. We're about to have a talk."

That was pretty much the gist of things. At the moment Sam needed to talk as much as he needed to think about things. It was a lot to take in and even after all that… He leaned against the Impala while his brother checked the contents of the trunk. Clearing his throat he began, "Look Dean, um… for the record. I agree with you. About me."

Dean stared at his younger brother. He figured something must have happened in his conversation with Angela to make him come forward like this. Winchester pride and stubbornness needed a hard knock which usually included a harsh revelation and Dean was thinking it was the latter and silently he prayed that Sam would see that she only did what she thought best and that it was for him. He didn't give a damn if what Crowley implied earlier was true.

Sam took in Dean's quiet stance as a means to keep going, "You think I'm too weak to take on Lucifer. Well, so do I."

Dean couldn't help but ask, "Did Angie say something?"

"She has nothing to do with this," Sam countered, "Believe me I know exactly how screwed up I am. You, Bobby, Cas… Angie… I'm the least of any of you."

"What did she say?"

"Dean, leave her out of this," Sam countered.

"I can't Sam, because I know that when she finally tells either of us something that she has kept buried for so long because an asshat like Crowley or Brady says something…" Dean sighed, not wanting to get into a fight. He looked at Sam and continued, "All I'm asking is did she say something that upset you enough to bring this up again? Like saying she would do it?"

"No," Sam protested. He didn't let it get that far but it was clear that she had been beating and hating herself so much over the last few years it was no wonder it was threatening to explode. He knew that if she thought it would make things better, she would remove herself completely from their lives she would even do what she offered to do for Suri, her granddaughter, and that was take away their memory of her. No matter how much it hurt her, she would do it if it would keep them safe and happy. "I didn't let it get that far."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Okay, cause let me tell you something," Dean tempered his gruff tones. Since they were on a confession train, he might as well get his say in. "That girl… thinks the world of you and I don't think I need to tell you how that translates to her feelings. Just…" Dean paused trying to think about what to say that didn't come off like he was picking on Sam. "Just… know that you're the first she cares about in that fashion and it… it scares her. Scares her so much that she's willing to let you believe what a demon says is true to think the worst."

Sam didn't need to be convinced of that. He may be slow on a few things but the more he thought about all that she had done when it hit close to home, his mom, Maddison, and Jess…, the more he saw it for what it was. "I know," he replied softly. "It's why I love her."

Dean blinked, not sure if he heard it right. He looked at his younger brother. "What?"

"It's why I love her Dean," Sam repeated. "That and just other things like making you believe you can do anything even when it's obvious it's a snowballs chance. I love her."

It was a relief to hear that Sam finally admitted it but it had Dean question, "Then why are you bringing this up? Saying yes to the devil?"

"Because I'm all we got in this." Sam looked down a bit as he shifted his position. "If there was another way, and I don't mean Angie doing it… I don't think there is."

"And you just admit your feelings and go off and want to do this? You realize how messed up that sounds?" Dean leaned against the Impala with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked at Sam with a piercing gaze. He didn't get it himself. It made for a bad chick flick and made it bad timing and just overall not fair in this universe.

"I do but… Angie… she stands by me," Sam admitted not quite looking at Dean.

"Angie is agreeing to this?"

"She brought it up. She had been thinking about it for a while," Sam confessed. "And I shot her way down quick. I don't know what else to do but… I just gotta try to do what's got to be done." He swallowed slightly and added, "It… it sucks but I don't think Angie sees another way either, which is why she brought it up. It's something that has to be done and… I'm doing it. For her."

"And… scene."

Dean turned to see Crowley but not before noticing the slight look of panic on Sam's face before it disappeared. It had him wondering how much Crowley did overhear of that conversation and he could understand Sam's panic. For anyone to know that Angela has someone she would do anything for to keep them safe… it was leverage that could screw with them. He knew that was why she was terrified of this whole relationship thing.

Crowley though gave no indication of hearing anything that would be worth his while. If he did, more likely he would keep it until it would prove to be useful to him. Instead, he brought with him a newspaper that he held out to the Winchesters, "There's something you need to see."

Sam narrowed his gaze at the demon. He was concerned that he heard his confession to Dean and what he might do with it. He had enough of the universe screwing with her and he would fight to keep it from happening. Taking the paper, he looked at the article that Crowley pointed at, "Niveus Pharmaceuticals is rushing delivery of its new swine flu vaccine to quote 'stem the tide of the unprecedented outbreak.' Uh, shipments leave Wednesday."

"Niveus Pharmaceuticals. Get it?" Crowley looked at Sam and Dean as they looked at him with blank looks. He sighed in an exasperated tone, "You two are lucky you have your looks."

"He means Brady," Angela's voice broke in. She approached the trio with a slow and deliberate step that was calm. It was anything but since she didn't quite look at Sam. "Brady was VP of distribution, Niveus."

"I'm glad someone remembered," Crowley huffed.

"More like pulled out of a nut skull," Angela countered as she returned the look with a piercing gaze of her own. "And not very original."

By then it was clear that Sam and Dean knew what they both were talking about. Crowley couldn't resist rubbing it in, "Ah there it is. The sound of the abacus clacking. We all caught up now?" He looked directly at Angela as if to taunt her but disappointed that he wasn't getting more of a reaction out of her.

Angela merely looked at the demon. There wasn't a point to trading barbs at this moment. Not when there were other things to worry about and that included whether or not there was anything left. She merely took a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest and remained silent while Sam reasoned, "So Pestilence was spreading swine flu."

"Yeah, but not just for giggles," Dean pointed out, "That was step one. Step two is the vaccine." He turned to look at Crowley, "And you think…"

"I know. I'll stake my reputation that vaccine is chock full of grade A, farm fresh Croatoan virus," Crowley asserted. He went quiet to let it all sink in.

"Simultaneous, countrywide distribution," Angela let out with a tired sigh.

"They don't get to be horsemen for nothing, love," Crowley countered, looking at her. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that she was admitting defeat. It wasn't like her. "So you boys better stock up on… well, everything. This time next Thursday, we'll all be living in Zombieland."

That was a sobering feeling. Angela stared at Crowley and then sighed, "Well I guess we better come up with a plan to stop this."

"Well you're certainly a bowl of sunshine and daisies," Crowley countered, not liking that she wasn't rising to the bait. "What do you have in mind?"

Angela had started moving towards the shed that was hers. She glanced at Crowley and then at the Winchesters before turning to go inside, not saying a word. She was done talking for now. Right now, they had a virus to stop and it certainly wasn't going to work with her recently acquired mojo that wasn't at a hundred percent in the first place. She walked through the place to a chest where she kept things in storage and pulled out a bag.

She went back outside holding the large duffle in one hand and held it up. "Here's our answer," she said before heading into the house.

Bobby had been sitting in his study looking at nothing in particular until his eyes lighted on a picture that he kept on his desk. It was one of the things that stopped him from putting a bullet in his mouth ever since he had become crippled by the angels. It was a picture of him and Angela when she was a little girl. It was one of those rare moments that he actually smiled. She was smiling too and hugging him around the neck while sitting on his lap.

Those were good times then. Granted it wasn't all fun and games since she had been a little four year old with powers that were scary at times, he had been happy and so was she. He looked at the little face that spoke of trust and love, none of the guarded expressions she wore nowadays and the only way you knew her feelings were her actions. That he felt was her true self, the self she had to hide more to protect herself and it became shot to hell when she got involved with the Winchesters and yet she never regretted her choices. She would suffer the consequences but never once regret her knowing them.

"She means much to you," Castiel's gruff voice entered.

"She's an idjit," Bobby countered in a gruff tone but there was no heat to it.

"Oh I know I am an idjit. I commit stupid even when I scold others for doing the same," Angela agreed as she entered through the kitchen with her duffle. She was followed in by Sam and Dean as she said without preamble, "We've got a problem."

"You mean Pestilence?" Bobby watched as she nodded.

"Yep and we have to stop it." Angela gave a smile that was humorless.

"I don't understand why you seem so happy at this," Castiel commented, looking at her with a puzzled frown.

"Just putting a spin on things," she replied with a grin.

"And just what do you have in mind?" Bobby was certain that she went all crazy train on them since this was like a one eighty from earlier. He was concerned but he saw then through her expression that she was worried but there was a task at hand.

Angela opened her duffle to reveal what was inside, "Oh blowing up Niveus Pharmaceuticals. The distribution warehouse." She paused a moment and then added, "While Dean goes to kill Death."

* * *

"Yep, they're loading up hotshots of Croatoan in the trucks," Bobby confirmed as he peered through his binoculars.

They had driven through the night to get to the warehouse. It was a somber road trip with only the slight light note that Bobby had the use of his legs again due to Crowley's 'altruistic' side. Bobby felt good, better than he had in months being able to walk. It certainly opened a lot more they could do. The somber note was the fact that Castiel thought Sam's idea was a good one only that it would require him to drink the one substance he swore off for good. Upon learning the reason why, it was enough to silence everyone in the van for the rest of the trip and it certainly had Sam thinking about his plan of saying yes.

Putting down his binoculars, Bobby looked at Sam and Castiel, "Okay. First truck don't leave for an hour. We get in, plant the C-4 every 25 feet, then we pull the fire alarm."

"Well conceived plan," Angela said from Bobby's window, thoroughly starling him and cussing at her. "But we've got a problem."

Castiel looked through the windshield and pointed, "That truck is leaving."

All three in the van saw the truck leave and Bobby cursed, "Balls!" He took a breath, "Okay new plan…"

"I got it," Angela said as she started fast walking in the direction the departing truck was heading in.

Sam felt his lip twitch slightly as she took off and Bobby cursed. He didn't say anything since it would probably cause the biting off heads. He was confident that she could handle it. She hadn't really let them down before. He didn't say anything when Castiel got out of the van and followed in the direction that Angela had taking. He did answer Bobby's question of where he was going by saying, "Following Angie. She needs his help."

"Idjit."

Angela had tracked the truck without drawing attention. She waited until it came to a complete stop and grabbed the arm of the driver. She gave him a back hand and muttered, "Cas, hit the keypad."

Castiel had followed as she asked him to. He was surprised that he still had that bond between them but wasn't going to question it. If it would gain an advantage, then they would use it. He used the butt end of the sawed off shotgun to smash the keypad and the gate began to close. He looked up as Angela finished tying the driver to the wheel and muttered the exorcism rite to exorcise the demon. "You continue to impress me, Angela."

Angela jumped down when she was done and replied, "Only because I'm just getting started. Get the truck over with the others. I'll go help Sam and Bobby."

"Be careful," Castiel said as he gripped her by the arm. He stared at her intently hoping that she would understand.

Angela looked back at the angel and saw the look in his eyes. She nodded, "I will. But you too Cas. I can't lose you."

Castiel let her go and watched as the tail end of her scarf flapped with the overlay she was wearing. It wasn't just for the Winchesters that he rebelled. It was for her because she was right. He got into the truck to move it to position.

Angela ran to catch up with Sam and Bobby and found that they weren't quiet enough. The doors had been shut so they had to try for the side door. It was locked when Bobby tried the handle. Sam pulled out his gun, prepared to shoot the lock and called out for people to get back. Angela stopped him and walked up to the door and gripped the handle. With the hardest pull she had ever done, she had the door open but a bit askew on its hinges and the handle in her hand.

Tossing the handle aside, she opened the door and started gesturing for the trapped civilians to get out. "Come on. Get out."

She was first inside, bent low but ready to grab her chakram or her sword on her back as she scanned the inside. Sam followed with his gun drawn and Bobby brought up the rear with his rifle. Angela scanned the area and saw the place was stacked high with boxes of Croatoan. And there were blind corners all around meaning ambushes. She took a step forward and cocked her head, grateful they didn't bring the dogs along this time because it was still related to Pestilence.

She moved away from Sam and Bobby and she heard the sounds. Her upper lip curled slightly as she moved forward. She had heard that squishy wet sound plenty of times in all her years of living. Skirting around the corner, she saw them and studied her surroundings. She had an idea and started climbing quickly and quietly.

Sam and Bobby had deposited their bags of C-4 on the ground. The area was too quiet and they both looked to Angela for confirmation if she heard or smelled anything. Not seeing her, Sam bit down the need to curse as he moved forward with his gun drawn and Bobby followed suit with the idea in mind to chew out his favorite idjit for being reckless. They came across a group of civilians only they were not civilians, not anymore at least. They were infected with Croatoan.

The group turned and had Sam and Bobby in their sights. They could tell that they were infected by the eyes. And they were out to kill. Sam raised his pistol and was prepared to shoot. There was a slight pause and Sam and Bobby tensed, prepared to shoot, when all of a sudden none other than Angela dropped in from behind the group and grinned while saying out loud and in a pleasant tone, "Hello there."

The infected ones in the back turned to face Angela and started towards her. She knocked their hands away and pulled out her knife and shoved it into the nearest chest, pulling it out and driving it into another. The others started rushing Sam and Bobby and they opened fire, praying that they wouldn't miss and hit her.

The infected ones were taken down with Angela breaking the neck of the last one. She took a deep breath more to catch her breath and nodded at Bobby and Sam. It was then they heard another civilian calling for help. She turned in the direction it came from and her eyes flared. She started climbing the boxes to get to the top and head in that direction.

On the ground, Sam saw her take off and he heard the cries too. They had to get the civilians out. "There's still people here."

Bobby thought it was too risky to be doing that. It was bad enough that Angela was going off on her own. He didn't want to lose Sam too. "Sam, no."

Sam pulled out his gun and held it ready. He gave Bobby the demon killing knife and said, "Wait here." He pulled up his shotgun and disappeared in the direction that Angela had gone.

Sam rounded a corner and came across an infected. He raised his shotgun to shoot as he was pulling on a girl's leg. He shot it but was taken from behind and fell forward. He grunted from the sudden weight and tried to move to avoid getting bitten or eaten or whatever.

Suddenly the weight was gone and he rolled over to find Angela holding the infected that attacked him in a chokehold. She was gritting her teeth and muttering something in a strange language as she gave a deft twist and there was the crunch of bones. She dropped the body to the ground and held out her hand to Sam, "Still embarrassing me?"

Sam made a slight face as he took her proffered hand and was hauled to his feet. He looked at the civilian and asked, "You okay?"

Angela stood there and looked around. She sniffed the air to get a feel for more and closed her eyes. She pulled the gun she had on her belt and turned and fired a round at the charging infected. She looked at the civilian Sam was helping and noticed the other on the ground. He was just stunned but otherwise okay. She beckoned, "Come on, we gotta go." She hauled the man to his feet and led the way out.

Bobby, in the meantime was nervous since there could be anyone in there. He fired on an infected that came his way and rounded on the group that emerged from another corner. He raised his gun but didn't shoot when he realized that it was Sam and Angela with civilians. He gestured for the civilians to run and they left through the exit that Angela created. He paused when he saw Sam and Angela look at him before readying their weapons to go back in.

Angela led the way just walking through while Sam was ready to fire. She could smell them now mostly because of the blood that had been spilt. She ignored the coppery scent and focused on what she needed. She pointed her pistol at her three o'clock and fired, killing an infected. She called out, "Six o'clock."

Sam wheeled around and saw an infected coming at them and fired. He readied his shotgun to fire again. "You got the scent?"

"Yes," she replied as she paused and looked around a corner. She listened and heard grunts and pleas. More civilians needing help. "This way," she gestured.

Sam stuck to the business end of things. True he thought she was being a little reckless but she wasn't compromising anyone's safety. Except maybe her own and that had him worried. Still he trusted her to see them both through this maze of blind corners and navigate to where the civilians were trapped to get them out.

Angela led the way calling out where there were infected ones. It was reminiscent from performing tactical maneuvers with teams like SWAT or the military. She had taught the method to Sam and Dean so they knew how to respond to the clock when she called out a bogey. It was also a means of staying focused. Exfil was a thing she was really good at and she had many more successes at those than most people could claim and she wasn't motivated for it by money or orders.

Rounding another corner, she spotted the trapped civilians and gestured at them. Sam nodded and moved to circle around. There were at least three and probably a few more in hiding. It was quick work getting those three down and one came out in a surprise attack. Angela reacted by bringing up her leg and delivered a kick to the gut that had the infected flipping over her leg and landing on the ground. She pulled her gun and gave a kill shot to the head. She looked up when another shot rang out and a bullet whizzed past her head to hit an infected that had come from behind. She saw Sam looking like he might have hit her but he held a strong stance. She nodded in thanks and went to help the last of the civilians.

They made it back to where Bobby was. Now the only thing that was left was to plant the C-4 and detonate. It was easier said than done when an infected tackled Sam to the ground and tried to choke him. Bobby had his rifle up but was on empty while Angela had been attacked from behind. Her gun flew out of her hand and the infected was pinning her down. All she saw was he infected trying to kill Sam and that got her moving, reaching for her gun while the infected tried to strangle her but she was making it difficult.

Angela reached out and felt the handle of her gun with her fingertips. She grunted trying to reach it and she could hear Sam choking. She then heard a shot and the spattering of brains. She grabbed her gun and twisted firing into the infected and he collapsed on top of her and she pushed the body off and rolled over to see Castiel holding his shotgun and looking at it. She couldn't help but shake her head with a slight grin as she pushed herself to her feet. "Nice shooting Tex."

Castiel looked at Angela with a puzzled expression, "I don't understand that reference."

"Don't try," Angela replied as she patted the angel on the shoulder. She reached down to offer Sam a hand up. "Just humor me."

"Can we commit our act of domestic terrorism already?" Bobby groused at the three of them, relieved that Sam was okay and annoyed that Angela was being cheerful about it.

"Sure," Angela replied taking deep breaths. She patted Bobby on the shoulder, "And when we're done I'll get you a nice bottle of the good stuff." She then walked over towards the bags and started pulling out the blocks of C-4 that she had prepped.

* * *

 **A/N:** Sam and Dean have a brotherly talk and learn that Croatoan is going to be spread. Angie and Sam go with Bobby and Cas to stop it. Stay tuned for the conclusion of Dancing with the Devil...


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Dean had been in many situations where saying or doing the wrong thing could earn him a death sentence. And sometimes it was a situation where death could be quick and instantaneous. One was being torn to shreds by a hell hound. But even that didn't come close to being in the same presence as Death himself. That was enough to send chills down the spine.

He had made it to Chicago with Crowley and he decided to take Zeppelin with him. While it was risky since Death could use his mojo on the pup, he felt better having someone there on his side to even things out. Plus it helped that Zeppelin kept up the growl act every time Crowley got too close. He enjoyed that the demon was uncomfortable around the pup even though he insulted him and called him worthless.

On the drive, Dean thought about everything that had led them to that point. It had been spontaneous that Angela said he was going to see Death but she was more than prepared to go with him. It was Crowley that said it was a no go. Dean protested hotly at that until the demon put it that Death was rather peeved that she managed to escape or cheat death as often as she had. It was stupid since he and Sam both had the same excuse. He thought there was something more to it.

That wasn't on his mind though when he entered the pizzeria and saw the dead bodies all over the place. He was surprised that Death himself would be in a place like this. The first place where 'ground zero' was a no go even though there were reapers all over the place. That had Dean go back down memory lane since the last time there were that many reapers was when Lucifer dug up Death. It made it very real indeed that they were down to the wire and it was the best one to win.

Zeppelin made a low moan in his throat as he sniffed through the kitchen. Dean watched as Zeppelin sniffed the body of a woman and hissed low, "Come on Zep. Leave it."

Zeppelin ignored Dean at first and continued to sniff the girl before leaving her to follow the scent. Dean pursed his lips and was ready to grab the dog by his collar. He didn't have time for his dog to get into explorer mode. He stopped though when Zeppelin came to the door that led to the dining and pawed it gently and woofed softly. Preparing himself for the worst, Dean opened the door as quietly as he could and took a look with Zeppelin close by and ready to slip in.

It was worse in the dining room. Dean looked around to find a waitress leaning against the sideboard where the dishes were kept… dead. He looked around and found more bodies. It was like people were going about their business, eating, drinking or working and then they suddenly dropped dead. Definitely Death was there and it was confirmed when he felt Zeppelin's head push past him and a low growl emitted from the pup's throat.

Reaching down, Dean rubbed Zeppelin's head while he pulled out the sickle that Crowley had scrounged up. Was he really going to kill Death? It sounded weird just stopping to think about it but they needed his ring. They needed all four if they were going to pop Lucifer back into the box. Straightening up he edged his way forward with Zeppelin following on his heels. It sounded loud with the dog's claws clicking softly on the hard surface and his tag tinkling. Dean hoped that it wasn't too loud for him to get the drop on Death.

The man himself was sitting facing the front door. It looked like he was eating. It had Dean feel really nervous as he signaled with his first two fingers for Zeppelin to move into position. He held the sickle ready and began his approach. He had to do this. They needed that last ring.

What was unexpected was the sudden heat he was starting to feel in his hand. He grimaced slightly when he looked down and saw the handle of the blade turn red. It was getting hot, hotter than he could tolerate and he felt the heat burn his skin. He could hear the sizzling of his skin being cooked by the heat of the handle. It was too much and he dropped the weapon and it fell to the floor with a loud clank and he looked up waiting for Death to make his move, looking like a kid who got caught sneaking out of bed to get ice cream.

"Thanks for returning that."

Dean looked up and saw his dog sitting next to Death and giving him the big brown eyes. He blinked as Death picked off a piece of food and held it up. He watched Zeppelin point his nose up and wait. The pup opened his mouth and the food dropped in and he lapped it up in pleasure. Dean couldn't help but roll his eyes. Zeppelin's love of food that wasn't dog food was coming back to bite him in the rear.

"What an agreeable creature."

Dean blinked when he saw Death reach out and start petting Zeppelin. It was also then he noticed that the sickle was not on the floor but on the table next to Death. It was a relief that his dog wasn't dropping over dead. In fact it seemed that Death was liking his dog and enjoying petting him. It was also a little annoying since it seemed that Zeppelin went traitor on him but…

"Join me, Dean. Don't be rude sending your Wilder in. The pizza's delicious."

Dean approached the table cautiously since there was nothing else he could do. He saw Zeppelin looking at him like he was being too slow. He really had no other choice. He looked upward when he heard the rain start to fall with the slight rumble of thunder. This really made the whole thing seem ominous. He circled around slowly and was beckoned to sit and he couldn't really say no to that. It was a small comfort that Zeppelin put his paw on his knee before laying down and getting comfortable.

"A remarkable creature, Wilders are," Death murmured as he ate his pizza. "Originally bred by hunters long ago to hunt creatures that were not ordinary. Bred to understand and carry out complex orders and yet they can be as friendly as a lap dog."

Dean sat in his seat, not willing to say anything but he felt compelled, "Well uh… Zep has always been friendly." He gave a slight smile to hide his nervousness. Now he understood Angela's whole thing about talking just to be polite.

Death said nothing about that except to hum. "Took you long enough to find me. I expected better since you have a very dear old friend on your side."

"Don't know anyone who'd call you a friend."

"I believe you do. She had proven quite adept at defying odds and coming out on the other side." Death cut another small piece of pizza, speared it on his fork and took a bite. "Then again I wouldn't expect less from the protector of mankind, the Malachi of Absolution."

Dean sat in his seat feeling uncomfortable. It was one thing to hear Angela talk about meeting various beings but Death? He knew she had died and almost died several times over but from what Bobby said, Death was hauled up when Noah was building the ark. So it was a little unnerving that he seemed to know so much about his girl.

"I've been wanting to talk to you."

Dean swallowed slightly as he watched Death eat. Can a being really eat? Or do they need to eat? "I gotta say, I've got mixed feelings about that. So is this the part where…? Ahem. Where you kill me?" It was a legitimate question since the last time he was in the hot seat, Brady revealed that he wanted him and to dig it out of his ass one bloody piece at a time. He swallowed slightly and prayed that this day wasn't going to be his last.

Death paused in his eating and looked up at Dean. He studied him for a moment and wondered why it was that his old friend chose this man and his brother to hang around. "You have an inflated sense of your importance. To a thing like me, a thing like you, well…" He shrugged slightly as he sipped the tea in his glass. "Think how you'd feel if a bacterium sat at your table and started to get snarky."

Dean felt that was a threat but he didn't say anything. He felt a slight chill when he heard the thunder outside. All he could do was keep his gaze riveted on Death.

"This is one little planet in one tiny solar system in a galaxy that's barely out of its diapers. I'm old, Dean. Very old. So I invite you to contemplate how insignificant I find you despite what my old friend has said in the past."

Dean sat there thinking of what to do as Death served him a piece of pizza pie and invited him to eat. He was hesitant and didn't want to but he also didn't want to offend Death. Slowly, he rotated the plate and picked up the silverware. As he cut a small piece, he wondered if this was how Angela would handle it or if she dealt with something similar. She probably did and he had to give her kudos for being brave, maybe foolish, but brave. He popped the piece he had cut into his mouth while watching Death.

"Good, isn't it?"

It was good. Dean couldn't deny it and he did like a good pizza every now and then. He made a look of appreciation as he chewed. "Well, I gotta ask. How old are you?"

"As old as God. Maybe older. Neither of us can remember anymore." Death shrugged as he took another bite. "And I know my old friend many times over. Probably more than she has told you. I doubt she remembers. An interesting creature she is."

"Many times over?"

"Oh yes. And God knows her well too. It's why she's an old friend."

Dean didn't know what to say about that. He knew Angela was old but from what Death was implying she was way older. It was impossible since he did actually research on her and learned she was born in 1492 and to the de Medici family. Then there was the story of her life moving through history from what he found and what she told him and Sam. It was a bit bizarre to hear.

"Life, death, chicken, egg. Regardless, at the end, I'll reap him too," Death continued, "As I've reaped her so many times over."

Dean heard the last part and it was something to look into or ask Angela later. The first part though had him wide eyed. "God? You'll reap God?"

"Oh, yes. God will die too, Dean. Just as she will when it's time and then it begins all over again."

That was not something you heard every day. Dean didn't know what to say at first. He also didn't like what he was hearing about Angela. At least he was assuming it was her since Death did call her by what others have called her. It was way over his head. "Well, this is way above my pay grade."

"Just a bit."

"So then why am I still breathing… sitting here with you?" That was the question that needed to be answered. "What do you want?"

Death responded shortly, "The leash around my neck off." At the look Dean was giving him, he went into detail, "Lucifer has me bound to him. Some unseemly little spell. A product of her failure to stand up to him. He has me where he wants, when he wants. That's why I couldn't go to you. I had to wait for you to catch up. He made me his weapon. Hurricanes, flood, raising the dead… I'm more powerful than you can process and I'm enslaved to a bratty child having a tantrum and I found that my old friend was bound herself."

"And you think that I can unbind you?" Dean was trying to process everything that he was hearing. This was so not how he pictured this going down and he got the feeling that he was getting more than what he bargained for.

"There's your ridiculous bravado again. Of course, you can't. But you can help me take the bullets out of Lucifer's gun."

Dean felt his skin flush at that. He was only going by what he heard and it felt like Death was mocking him. Maybe Death earned that right since he was that old. He watched as Death held up his right hand to reveal a ring on his ring finger.

"I understand you want this."

"Yeah."

"I'm inclined to give it to you."

"To give it to me?"

"That's what I said," Death countered getting short with Dean more from impatience at his slowness.

"But what about Chicago?" Dean had to try and bargain if her could. He looked at Death and found himself at the business end of a stare that had him gulp in fear.

"I suppose it can stay. I like the pizza," Death replied as he took the ring off his finger. He held it out to Dean. "There are conditions."

"Okay. Like?" Dean knew there was a catch. It was better to hear I all before saying anything. He wasn't in a position anyway.

"You have to do whatever it takes to put Lucifer in his cell," Death laid out. "Whatever it takes."

"That's the plan."

"No. No plan. Not yet," Death countered. "Your brother. He's the one that can stop Lucifer. The only one." He saw Dean's expression and continued, "I know she can as well but that is not her place. Not her time."

"So you think…?"

"I know. And I need a promise. You're going to let your brother jump right into that fiery pit." He offered the ring. "Well, do I have your word?"

Dean looked at the ring and Death. By agreeing to it… He was basically going to tell Sam that he was to say yes and jump into hell with Lucifer. He was going to lose his brother. Not only that… They were at the wire now. He half expected Angela to show up and say that there was another way but she didn't. What other choice did they have? Reluctantly but also with resolve he held out his hand. "Yes."

* * *

It was late but that didn't bother Angela. She could see well in the dark as she did during the day and she had spent many nights burning midnight oil to make sure she had something for a big hunt or whatever the job was going to entail. She stared at the silver blade that was lying on the velvet cloth and the small bowl in front of her.

Slowly she picked up the silver knife and held it. She readied her left palm, taking a moment to look at the thin white scar. She studied it as she remembered how she came about it and how it never seemed to go away even after the other times she had sliced it and her healing abilities took over. It was a mystery to her and she always assumed it was a quirk to being a dhampir. It also healed faster than newer injuries which was why she was using it.

Without further hesitation, she drew the knife across her palm, drawing blood. Her lips twitched from the slight sting from the blade but didn't cry out. She squeezed her hand to generate more blood and tilted it so it would fall into the bowl. She watched as it poured out and muttered the spell she had looked up when they got back from the warehouse.

When she had enough blood, she lifted her hand and looked at the wound. Smelling the tang, she leaned forward and tentatively licked it, pressing her tongue to the wound. She stopped when she heard a noise and turned to look in the direction it had come from. She grabbed a handkerchief and wrapped her hand while she finished the spell and hid the evidence.

She had just finished putting the blood into a vial and putting it in the small cooler when she heard, "Angie… are you in here?"

Taking a breath she cast the handkerchief aside and opened the door and went out to find Sam standing in what could pass for a living room in the shed though it looked more like a workroom. She blinked and took a step forward. Now that they had taken care of the immediate problem… She stood there and clasped her hands together.

Sam had been looking for Angela since she disappeared once they got back to the Singer Salvage yard. He wanted to talk to her and make things clear and he was concerned. She barely said two words to him that weren't a call out where an infected person or a demon was and maybe he was mistaken but he thought he saw fear every time he tried to catch her eye. What was she afraid of?

He saved himself some time by calling Moira and asking her to find Angela but that little imp decided to play with him and take her time about it. He couldn't scold her since he did ask Moira to look after her. Plus it helped that Xander was lounging near the door to the shed but it didn't help that he gave a low growl at him. It was a first and startled Sam since that dog was never hostile with him. Holding his hands up in appeasement, he told the dog that he was there to see Angela and that he wasn't going to hurt her. He followed that with a firm command for the dog to move.

Xander did move and showed submission to him but that didn't alleviate the concern. He signaled for Moira to stay with Xander outside while he went in and calling for her. She then appeared out of nowhere until he noticed a door behind her but he ignored that now that he was standing in front of her and she was… being polite in giving him the floor. He didn't fail to notice the faint tremble of her lip as he struggled to say what he wanted to say, "Hey, uh… just wanted to see if you were okay."

"I'm fine," Angela offered as she started to rub her right hand up her arm and looked away. "Stuck a wrench in the works."

"Yeah and… we work well together." Sam cleared his throat watching her look at anything but him. He sighed and decided to bite the bullet, "Did I do something to upset you?"

Angela looked up sharply at that and frowned in confusion, "No."

"Then what is it? Is it about Brady and… and, and Jess?" Sam paused and looked at her as she looked downward. "If it is… that's not on you."

"Yes, it is," Angela replied softly. Taking a breath she looked up at Sam. She took in the pained expression that crossed his face. "You think being a Winchester means you're cursed? Believe me, knowing me is a far worse curse than anything out there. Everything that is good and beautiful…" She shook her head and looked away before looking back at Sam. "Everything good and beautiful to me becomes tainted and marked. It gets taken from me and I am powerless to stop it. I ruin things, Sam. I ruin the good things no matter what I do. It's why I've stayed away from people in general and refuse friends and in moments of weakness… I give in. I give in, and I forget until reality sets in. By then, it's too late. Even my best kept secrets get found out. They used Suri to get to me. And… they will do the same to you and…" She made a gesture but couldn't go on.

Sam watched her tear up. He heard every word she was saying and he thought it was utter crap. True she had done some nasty things, who hadn't, but she had done a lot more good than bad and the way she was about people… "And what about you? You think you're the only one who suffers watching someone who you care about die?"

"It's different for me Sam. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not a normal anything. I've lived a lot longer than any of my kind have. I have walked to face Death and came out on the other side alive but always with a consequence. No matter how hard I try… It's why…"

"Why you always look for the way out, the best thing with the least amount of consequences." Sam didn't like how it came out but it was the best he could do and she seemed to respond to it. "If that's the case, why did you stay? With me and Dean for so long?"

Angela looked away and blinked. She could recall the first thing she said to Sam after the first job they did together was done. She was quiet for a time and she heard Sam shuffle on his feet impatiently. Finally she said, "I remember telling you that working together was good for me. And I wasn't lying about that because in the end… I am like any other person and need that contact. But… staying with you and Dean… Bobby… I felt I could change my viewpoint and… my feelings changed. A lot of what I did… was not because of my rules but because… because I love you and I… don't deserve it."

"How can you say that?" Sam looked at her incredulously. He closed the distance between them and grasped her by the upper arms. She didn't resist and that was alarming to him. He looked her in the eye and said, "You are more deserving of anything good. I've seen it. And… I know what I'm getting into and I make it willingly. No one is yanking my chain or anything. I do love Jessica and always will, but I love you more and I don't blame you for what happened. Never did."

"You should."

"But I don't." Sam looked her in the eye. Then going with impulse he pressed his forehead to hers. "Ever since you walked in, even if it was a crappy hand, you've always made it good. I can't think of a time where you haven't said or did anything that made sense when the crap started rolling in. And it was… I was miserable when you went on your trips alone."

Angela closed her eyes and she shifted to rub her forehead against Sam's. "But why?"

"Because I feel alive with you," Sam replied. He reached up and cupped her cheek. "Tell me you don't feel the same."

Angela breathed in Sam's scent and took in his touch. She couldn't lie, not to him and she doubted she ever could. "I feel the same. I'm just… afraid."

"And it's okay," Sam murmured. "You don't have to be. Not with me." He pressed a kiss to her temple and rubbed his nose on her left cheek, taking in her scent.

It was what she wanted to hear. Angela sighed in relief and from Sam's caress. She brushed her nose slightly on his left cheek and took in his scent. She felt her teeth elongate slightly as she moved downward towards his neck. Realizing what she was doing, she blinked and pulled away gasping, aware that she startled Sam.

"What's wrong?" Sam looked at her. To him she looked like she was starting to panic.

"I…" Angela opened her mouth, revealing her teeth and put her hand over her mouth. "I… uh…" She flushed and was certain she was blushing like crazy now. "I'm sorry. I caught your scent and I wanted… wanted to…" She got red in the face.

Sam didn't need her to speak. He got what she was doing. He hadn't failed to notice a few things. He stepped closer and pressed his lips to hers and murmured, "It's okay. I… want to."

Angela broke the kiss to gauge his intentions. He gave his consent and… She kissed him back and put feeling into it. She felt her skin heat up because it was bold for her but she liked it and liked it even more when Sam responded but a bit more forcefully but with equal feeling. She gasped for air when he started kissing her on the side of her neck, right where he kissed her the day he declared his intentions and it felt good.

"Are you okay with this?"

Sam had paused and his breath was hovering over where he had been kissing her. Angela couldn't see his face but she could feel his eyes on her and he was going on her say so. Leaning forward, she kissed his neck where she had kissed him before and let her breath hover on the skin before kissing the area again.

Sam took that as her answer and continued what he was doing. He ran his hands up her hips and held them before pushing her against the wall. He pulled back and looked at her and rubbed a hand on her cheek and ran it slowly down towards the belt that held her jacket on. He kept his gaze on her as he slowly undid the sash. He kept it on her as he pushed the delicate cloth off her shoulders leaving her in nothing but her shirt and pants. He held her gaze as she slowly pushed off the jacket he was wearing, letting her fingers linger on his shoulders, like they were dancing.

Angela stared at Sam because he stared back. Instinctively she took it as a challenge but she had no fear, no need to be dominant. She let her fingers linger on his shoulders before moving them to dance on the skin of his neck. She felt him respond by pulling on her hips. She countered by wrapping her arms around his neck and let him pick her up and carry her to the room and laid her down on the bed. She laid there looking at him in the eye as he put his hand on her abdomen and she reached up and ran her fingers through his hair as he lowered her face towards hers and began kissing her, running his hand up her side. Her hand undid the first of the buttons on his shirt and she tentatively reached in to caress the skin as he teased her abdomen, both knowing where it was going next.

* * *

 **A/N:** Dean meets Death and gets the ring but it comes with a price and some interesting tidbits. And it looks like Sam and Angie are finally doing it. Think it will bode well? Stay tuned for 4.22 Light's Evensong...


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